From 10 to 12 July, Rome will host the ninth edition of Videocittà, the Festival of Vision and Digital Culture conceived by Francesco Rutelli, with Anna Lea Antolini as artistic director and Michele Lotti as creative director, and supported by Eni, the event’s main partner.
Light installations, immersive, interactive and virtual reality experiences, video art, live A/V performances and DJ sets, talks and performances will once again bring to life the Gazometro in Rome, Europe’s largest site of urban industrial heritage.
Having dedicated previous editions to the Moon, the Earth, the Galaxy and the Sun, Videocittà 2026 has chosen water as its central theme: the origin of life, an essential resource and a universal symbol capable of transcending cultures, landscapes and imaginations, whilst also serving as a key for reflecting on the major contemporary challenges. The entire festival programme – from installations to live audiovisual performances, from immersive works to talks, right down to the name of this edition – Videocittà Watercult 2026 – explores the theme of water through different forms and languages, inviting the public to reflect on its ecological, political and cultural value as a living, ever-changing and universal element.
Among the new features of this edition is the appearance of the German composer, musician and producer Apparat. At Videocittà 2026, the artist, winner of the David di Donatello award for best soundtrack for Mario Martone’s Capri-Revolution, nominated for a Grammy Award for his album LP5 and composer of the music for the cult series Dark, will take centre stage in a double special appearance: his iconic track Black Water, reinterpreted in a new version created for the track’s fifteenth anniversary, will form part of In Lympha, the major immersive installation conceived and produced by Eni in collaboration with Videocittà, which will take over the spaces of Opificio 41 for the entire duration of the Festival, interpreting water as the origin and generative principle: that which nourishes, sets things in motion and from which every form evolves and expands. Added to this is a special DJ set scheduled for Saturday 11 July on the Gazometro Main Stage, designed specifically for Videocittà and conceived as a space of total artistic and expressive freedom, blending electronic, ambient and experimental music.
And then there is UNDA, the new site-specific light installation produced by Eni for Videocittà and conceived by Visioni Parallele and Niulab with executive production by Eventitaliani. For the first time, the Gazometro G4 is transformed into a work of art visible exclusively from the outside, becoming a new beacon of light in the capital’s urban landscape. Through a composition of light and lasers inspired by the perpetual motion of water, UNDA reinterprets one of the most iconic symbols of contemporary industrial archaeology, transforming it into an urban beacon in constant metamorphosis. A flow of light waves traverses the structure, evoking the rhythm of the sea and its ability to shape the landscape over time.
The central gasometer of the three smaller gasometers, known as G2, is transformed into a space where images, technology and live performance converge, all under the theme of water. Images of oceans, rivers and rainfall from around the world give shape to the immersive, multidisciplinary installation Water: always the same, always different, bringing together the work of Giuseppe La Spada – an Italian artist whose collaborations range from Ryuichi Sakamoto to Franco Battiato – the sounds of Francesca Heart and the physical exploration of Brazilian performer Amanda Lana.
Making his festival debut is Cao Yuxi, a Chinese artist and one of the most prominent figures on the contemporary scene, who presents the Italian premiere of his celebrated immersive installation Nature’s Computility: an enveloping waterfall which, through the use of algorithms, decodes the beauty of nature and renders the flow of water in dynamic, ultra-high-resolution visualisations. Cao Yuxi’s work is in perfect harmony with the space hosting it: Opificio 60 Nord – which Videocittà is using thanks to its collaboration with eFM, an international leader in digital real estate and co-founder of ROAD, as its experience partner; eFM is opening its new space for the first time: a PlaceTech Lab that can be explored through diverse realities and languages – art, technology, innovation and research – capable of generating experiences and, consequently, value.
The audio-visual music section transforms water into a sonic and visual experience, with a main stage conceived as a hybrid between an installation and a performance space, and a line-up featuring some of the most influential names on the electronic music scene. On 10 July, the event kicks off with Sara Persico and Mika Oki, winners of the 2025 Videocittà Awards in the AV performance category, for a live set that blends experimental electronic music, sound art and radical vocalism. Next up is Mace, one of the most influential producers on the contemporary Italian music scene, who – following two sold-out Forum shows and his recent appearance at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony – brings an audiovisual DJ set to Videocittà, created in collaboration with Sugo Design, which transforms sound into landscape and vision. An immersive experience in which nature and the spiritual realm merge, where organic images, visual flows and sonic textures interact in real time, giving shape to a sensory narrative. On 11 July, the programme continues with Nziria, a singer, producer and performer born in Ravenna with Neapolitan roots. The artist will perform Syysma live, her new album blending Neapolitan Neomelodico, Hardcore Gabber and contemporary club culture. This is followed by Populous live, with visuals by Furio Ganz, to present the album Isla Diferente, written on Lanzarote – a mysterious, archaic island where the silence of the volcanoes meets the ocean – whilst Apparat brings the evening to a close. On 12 July, the main stage will be dedicated to the project by Donato Dozzy and Neel: Voices From The Lake, in which the two Italian artists explore experimental soundscapes evoking underwater realms and nature-inspired dimensions, and the new live AV show from the transmedial studio Liminal State dedicated to water: FREEFALL, a live improvised audiovisual performance in which sound, music, lighting and generative visuals unfold in real time, exploring freefall as a space of freedom.
One of the festival’s most popular events returns: the virtual reality experiences. Amidst natural and liquid landscapes, at the Amphitheatre, audiences will witness the world premiere of In Pinus, an all-Italian VR experience centred on the Italian stone pine, produced by Impersive for Videocittà in collaboration with the Presidential Estate of Castelporziano as part of the European project CO-VISION, directed by Guido Geminiani, featuring the performer Delfina Stella, text by Simone Arcagni and music by Vincenzo Pizzi. Furthermore, on the first floor of the G3, the largest of the ‘smaller’ gasometers, it is the turn of L’acqua in virtual reality, a collection of four VR experiences – Jellyfish by the French artist Mélodie Mousset, Biolum by the French artist Abel Kohen, Plastisapiens by the Canadians Edith Jorisch and Miri Chekhanovich, The world came flooding in by the Australians Van Sowerwine and Isobel Knowles – presented in their Italian premiere by Diversion, one of the most important and influential French organisations on the international immersive arts scene; and the virtual reality documentary Sweet end of the world! by Stefano Conca Bonizzoni, selected from Rai Cinema’s VR library, which is renewing its partnership with Videocittà once again this year.
The Video Art section, curated by Damiana Leoni and Rä di Martino, will host a programme on 10 July featuring works by some of the most interesting figures on the contemporary international art scene, dedicated to the theme of water. The spotlight will therefore be on Shahzia Sikander, a Pakistani artist known for subverting the traditions of Central and South Asian miniature painting, with her hand-painted cinematic tableau 3 to 12 Nautical Miles, which explores the stories of trade, colonialism and power that have shaped the past and present; the Milan-based collective FLATFORM – which explores the relationship between image, landscape and perception, and is already known for its exhibitions at MAXXI, the Centre Pompidou and the Prada Foundation, as well as having been nominated for an Academy Award in 2021 – will, in dialogue with the curators, present the work What Is to Come Is Only a Promise: a long single take that depicts the effects of rising sea levels. Then there is the multidisciplinary Argentine artist Cecilia Bengolea, who explores the relationship between the body, movement and the environment through contemporary dance and folk practices, with her black-and-white work Lighting Dance, in which she explores the relationship between atmospheric electricity, music and movement; and finally Monira Al Qadiri, a Kuwaiti artist who has exhibited in international venues such as the Guggenheim in Bilbao, the Palais de Tokyo and the 2022 Venice Biennale in the main exhibition “The Milk of Dreams”, with Diver, a story about pearl diving in the Persian Gulf, which has sustained her region’s economy for centuries.
On 11 July, one of the best-known artists on the international scene will be in attendance: Adrian Paci, who, in conversation with the curators, will present the works Turn on, Di queste luci si servirà la notte – a video installation born from a performance staged on the River Arno – and The Column, a powerful visual metaphor on labour, cultural identity and the dialogue between East and West, which intertwines art, migration and the dynamics of globalisation.
The Tiber, a vital presence in the city of Rome, is at the heart of the research by the young digital artist Tommaso Cherubini, who, for Videocittà, is exploring its past and present, translating hydrological and environmental data into an immersive particle system with the artwork Invisible Ecologies: Tevere, presented here for the very first time. Confluence, produced by Signal as part of the European CO-VISION project, in collaboration with the Save the Confluence initiative and an international team of artists including Marie Tučková, Katarina Gryvul, David Přílučík and the duo Selmeci Kocka Jusko, focuses instead on the ecosystem of Europe’s largest floodplain forest, where the Morava and Dyje rivers converge.
The interactive game takes shape in the Garden alongside another work by Giuseppe La Spada, Particle Catharsis, which engages in dialogue with the multifaceted installation by G2, inviting the public to connect with the primordial element and its purifying power through gesture and movement; and with Maelstrom by the American artist Lake Heckaman, curated by Luca Martinelli and powered by RNMW, a generative audiovisual installation created in TouchDesigner – a digital ecosystem in which fluid turbulence interacts in real time with the code to generate an ever-changing vortex.
Water as a natural, climatic and scientific phenomenon lies at the heart of OS Ocean Suite, the artistic-scientific project created by the CMCC – Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change, in collaboration with Nova System Academy and Planetaria. Through the sonification of over seventy years of climate data relating to the ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation) phenomenon, the project – situated on the access ramp to the G3 Gasometer for the duration of the Festival – transforms the invisible dialogue between the ocean and the atmosphere into an immersive soundscape, making the profound connections that govern the planet’s climatic balance perceptible through music. A convergence of scientific research and artistic creation that translates data, numbers and climate models into a sensory experience.
Videocittà reaffirms its role as a space for reflection and dialogue between artists and creatives, experts and audiences of all ages. With the AQUA series of talks conceived by Francesco Rutelli and Simone Arcagni’s Aqua Talks, the Festival broadens the discussion on the theme of water by addressing its environmental, historical and strategic implications, ranging from climate change to cultural heritage and global geopolitical scenarios.
It kicks off on 10 July with Water shortages and heavy rainfall: investing in prevention, adaptation and ‘sponge neighbourhoods’ is far better than complaining and repairing the damage. Introduced by Giulio Boccaletti (Scientific Director of CMCC, Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change).
Speakers: Erasmo D’Angelis, Marco Lombardi; Giovanni Milani, Claudio Rosi, Ginevra Sotirovic, moderated by Natalia Bagnato; the programme continues on 11 July with “Lessons from Ancient Rome: water in the thermal baths and fountains; water for millions of people as far back as two thousand years ago, from the Caput Mundi to the Atlantic coast and Syria”. Introduction by Alfonsina Russo (Director-General for Promotion, Ministry of Culture). Speakers: Giorgio Ortolani, Alessandro Viscogliosi, moderated by Laura Larcan. The event concludes on 12 July with “Seas and Oceans in a Changing World: Geopolitics and Navigation; Energy and Submarine Resources; Communications and Security”
Introduction by Alessandro Lanza (President of the Enrico Mattei Foundation). Speakers: Luiza Bialazievicz, Ambassador Vincenzo De Luca, Massimo Frezzotti, moderated by Giovanna Pancheri.
The programme continues with the three AQUA talks, informal and multidisciplinary sessions in which lecturer and new media expert Simone Arcagni engages in dialogue over the three days of the festival with artists, creators and personalities whose artistic and professional journeys are rooted in research, experimentation and thinking outside the box: N.A.I.P., Valentina Tanni, Siamounmagazine, Eki, Valerio Ferrara, Elisabetta Modena, Vino, Matilde De Feo, Federico Ferrazza. These discussions will be complemented by a public panel dedicated to the production of the virtual experience In Pinus, featuring Professor Giuseppe Scarascia Mugnozza and the project’s key contributors as part of the European CO-VISION project, to be held in the amphitheatre.
Videocittà, which has always been committed to experimentation, new talent and new technologies, will host the IGPDecaux Graphic Award ceremony, unveiling the three winning works that reinterpret Rome, the ‘Eternal City’, through the new frontiers of artificial intelligence. The winning works, selected for their visual impact and technological innovation, are set to be transformed into an urban stage that will take to the streets of the capital, creating a dialogue between digital creativity and the everyday fabric of the city. As the festival draws to a close, the vision for the future continues with Cinecittà, which – through its President Antonio Saccone and Chief Executive Manuela Cacciamani – announces that it will be directly involved in Videocittà through an initiative aimed at promoting the talent of a young person under 35 and utilising the immense heritage of the Luce Historical Archive.
Education lies at the heart of all Videocittà’s activities; during these three days dedicated to Rome in its international capacity, this is expressed through the participation and creative expression of students from various institutes and academies across the capital, who are presenting works conceived specifically for Videocittà: the IED European Institute of Design with the site-specific installation Egeria, NABA Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti with ATLANTE, the RUFA Rome University of Fine Arts, and the Saint Louis College of Music in Rome with Confluence – six audiovisual performances spread over three evenings, an experimental workshop in which video and music feed off one another, building a creative flow based on exchange, connection and transformation. The collaboration with the Rossellini Institute is also being renewed, with students taking part in a hands-on learning experience.
As part of Videocittà Watercult 2026, Agorà returns: the festival’s professional programme, coordinated by Guido Pietro Airoldi, dedicated to the internationalisation of the Italian sector of creative technologies, immersive audiovisual media, digital art and the contemporary cultural industry, organised with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) and ICE – the Agency for the promotion abroad and internationalisation of Italian businesses, – and reaffirms its role as a platform for bringing together Italian and international professionals, buyers, curators, institutions, festivals, creative studios and companies. The 2026 programme will take place on 9 and 10 July and will consist of B2B meetings, pitch presentations, workshops, studio visits to Italian production companies and professional networking sessions, with the aim of promoting creative ‘Made in Italy’ products on international markets and generating new opportunities for collaboration, distribution and development for Italian artists, studios and businesses. Building on the success of the previous edition, Agorà 2026 aims to further strengthen its international dimension by involving over 40 international industry professionals and consolidating Videocittà’s role as a European hub for digital culture, creative innovation and new forms of audiovisual media.
Among the new features of the programme is a collaboration with Filmmaster, one of Italy’s most prestigious creative and production companies, which will celebrate its fiftieth anniversary in 2026. Alfredo Accatino, President and Chief Creative Officer, and Adriano Martella, Head of Creative and Creative Director, will discuss on Saturday 11 July the creative process that transformed water into the narrative theme of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Closing Ceremony, demonstrating how a natural phenomenon can become a collective narrative, a visual language and a spectacle capable of speaking to hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide.
During the Videocittà festival, the third edition of Arte al Gazometro will also be launched with the exhibition “Riflessi”, an exhibition programme featuring installations and site-specific works, with the participation of national and international artists. Curated by Marco Capasso, in collaboration with the “Il Sole” Gallery, the “Orma” Gallery and the “Eidos” Gallery, “Riflessi” explores water not merely as a natural element but as an active agent of transformation, capable of making visible what normally remains invisible: energy. The initiative was created to foster dialogue between contemporary art, the industrial context and research, as part of the cultural activities promoted by Eni.
For this ninth edition too, the collaboration with Ploom, a partner of the festival, is renewed, as the company continues to support and accompany Videocittà’s journey through new synergies.
VIDEOCITTA’, Gazometro, Rome, 10-12.07.2026
Visit here the website to reserve for reserving the tickets and for the updated program of events
images: (cover 1) In Lympha, ENI in collaboration with Videocittà, 2026 (2) Cao Yuxi, «Nature’s Computilityjpg», 2026 (3) Donato Dozzy, «Voices From The Lake», 2021 (4) Abel Kohen, Biolum, 2026 (5) Tommaso Cherubini, «Invisible Ecologies Tevere Fitoplancton», 2026 (6) VIDEOARTE, Adrian Paci, «The column», 2014, still da video (7) Videocittà 2024
