Beta Festival 2025
- CultureHead Staff
- 11 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Landmark exhibition at Dublin Port, Notre-Dame Cathedral Virtual Reality Experience and conference on Artificial Intelligence & creativity announced as part of the arts & technology festival
A digital journey to the ocean depths, a virtual reality exploration of Notre-Dame Cathedral, and an international conference on art and technology are among the events announced today for Ireland’s arts & technology festival, Beta.
Supported by The Digital Hub the event will be held at various locations throughout Dublin from November 7th to 23rd. This year’s theme explores concepts of water and fluidity, and speaking at the programme announcement the festival’s curator Aisling Murray invited members of the public to dive right in:
“Beta Festival is the only festival of its kind in Ireland that merges art and technology. We are bringing together some of the leading minds from both fields to present cutting-edge ideas to the public and together imagine new possibilities. From immersive exhibitions, to quantum-inspired poetry performances and virtual reality experiences, I invite everyone to come and find inspiration in our carefully curated programme of exhibitions, workshops, and international guests.”
Festival Highlights
A centerpiece of the festival is a landmark exhibition titled “Undercurrent: As Below, So Above,” which will be hosted at Dublin Port. The exhibition will feature interactive artworks by artist Kat Austen, who confronts the vital problem of marine microplastic pollution alongside an immersive experience created by Lauren Moffat that takes visitors on a journey to the ocean floor, and new multimedia works by Siobhan McDonald.
As part of the festival, the Digital Hub, in partnership with Project Arts Centre, will present the Irish premiere of “Foolish Flame.” Created by artists Peter Power and Leon Butler, this immersive installation addresses themes of climate change and cultural trauma. Combining the old with the new, the work draws inspiration from traditional Sean-nós dance archives, reinterpreted by choreographer Robyn Byrne, and features music composed by Peter Power, performed by Uilleann Piper Muireann Ní Shé.
This year’s festival is filled with public workshops and technology demonstrations. The Virtual Reality Notre-Dame Experience, created through 5,000 hours of historian-guided graphic work, will allow participants to explore the cathedral like never before, including areas of the cathedral that are not open to the public. A related panel discussion entitled “AI, Design & Cultural Heritage” will explore how contemporary designers are using AI as both a creative and interpretive tool for historic architecture.
For the festival’s opening weekend Beta will host the Irish premiere of “HeartBeat, Son cœur a trouvé sa cadence dans le silence des rencontres”, the Venice Immersive Biennale experience by French artist Bonnie Lisbon. The installation offers a non-verbal encounter between two strangers, sharing their pulse and exploring emotional relationships.
Local Artists Network
The Local Artists Network strand of the programme is dedicated to new work by some of Ireland’s most exciting artists working with new technology. Pallas Projects will present an exhibition by Caroline Mac Cathmhaoil, artist Istvan Lazslo will present an augmented reality work reconstructing the removal of Queen Victoria’s statue from Leinster House, and a large-scale installation by Aoife Dunne will be presented within the historic Riddel’s warehouse.
Conference
The Beta Festival's annual conference gathers artists, researchers, policymakers, and tech experts to discuss how art connects with technology and the environment. Among the conference highlights, Dr. Oonagh Murphy will deliver a keynote address titled “Responsible AI in the Cultural Sector,” focusing on ethical practices, responsible technology use, and public programmes that prioritise people and the environment. A performative lecture from Jose Luis de Vicente will investigate the SOFAR channel, an area of water deep beneath the ocean where sound waves can travel thousands of kilometers without losing their strength.
Joanna Walsh, author of Girl Online, will launch her new book “Amateurs!” and engage in a discussion with Rachel O'Dwyer , examining how amateur creativity has shaped the internet. Poet Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan and artist Jennifer Redmond will create a once off performance that uses quantum theory to explore ideas of identity and meaning. Elsewhere at the festival the Irish Museum of Modern Art will showcase screenings on their outdoor Living Canvas, including Liam Young’s “The Great Endeavor,” which envisions a planetary-scale carbon removal initiative and reframes the environmental crisis as a design challenge.
To celebrate the opening of the festival on Friday 7th November, Lullahush will play a one off gig before embarking on his international tour fusing traditional Irish folk music with provocative contemporary electronic production.
Beta, the Arts & Technology Festival, will take place from November 7th to 23rd. Many events are free for the public to attend. To view the full programme, visit 2025.betafestival.ie
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