Animateka is thrilled to showcase another year of groundbreaking immersive works, celebrating the power of virtual and mixed reality to tell bold, narrative-driven stories. This year’s program invites audiences on journeys through shifting landscapes where time and nature behave in unexpected ways, into intimate spaces where the fragility of home is laid bare, and into worlds that blossom and awaken through interaction. From poetic reflections on our changing climate to the whimsical escape of restless houseplants, and a deeply moving exploration of loss, stigma, and the search for salvation, these works open portals into experiences only possible through the language of VR.
The 6 projects competing for the VR@Animateka award will be on display from December 1 to 7 at Cirkulacija2 (Podhod Ajdovščina).
Every day from 12.00 to 19.00.
Fallax
Owen Hindley (GunHil, Huldufugl)
Iceland, United Kingdom, 2025, 22’00”
An escaped prisoner flees into the Icelandic countryside. After their friends mysteriously vanish, they are pulled into a space where time and nature move differently. Featuring motion captured circus artists & realtime animation, this will be Iceland’s first film made for virtual reality.
Fragile Home
Ondrej Moravec, Victoria Lopukhina (Brainz Immersive)
Czech Republic, 2024, 15’00”
What would you do when your home appeared to be in danger? Since the war began, millions of Ukrainians have faced this question. Fragile Home is an immersive experience in MR that poses this question to each of us.
lichtung
Aria Wolf (Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg)
Germany, 2025, 8’30”
You enter a calm yet unfamiliar world, lying dormant as you arrive. As you explore its surroundings, the world gradually opens up, revealing its light. The more you engage with it, the more you become enveloped in a soothing yet lively awakening, full of surprises.
Out of Nowhere
Kris Hofmann (Animate Projects, Hofmann Studio, spec.studio)
Austria, Germany, United Kingdom, 2025, 10’00”
Our weather is getting angrier. Everywhere. Out of Nowhere gently explores how preserving alluvial forests, marshes and wetlands can help us face the challenges of an ever angrier, unpredictable climate.
The Great Escape
Joren Vandenbroucke (a_BAHN, Animal Tank)
Belgium, Luxembourg, 2025, 20’00”
Three moody geraniums take control over their fate and plan their escape from the windowsill they spent their entire boring life on.
If You See a Cat
Atsushi Wada (Kodansha VR Lab)
Japan, 2025, 35’00”
A boy whose only friend is a hallucination of a cat and a hospital that tries to eliminate the hallucination with drugs. A story that asks what the right prescription for mental illness is.
https://www.animateka.si/2025/en/vr-programme-at-22nd-animateka/
Upcoming:
Dear lovers of art, respected creators and supporters of culture,
we are very pleased to inform you that this year we are preparing the 11th ART-MUS Art Fair, which will once more revive the artistic pulse of Ljubljana.
Where: Ajdovščina – underpass, Cirkulacija 2
When: from 10th to 20th December 2025
Time: every day between 10.00 and 18.00
During the fair you will be able to explore the rich selection of contemporary art, meet artists and follow the programme, which is also co-created by galerists, art critics and creators.
A special emphasis will again be placed on the art auction led by Goran Medjugorac, who traditionally attracts connoisseurs and collectors of art.
A detailed program of events will be published soon!
You’re invited to accompany us.
We will look forward to your visit and association with art, which has been connecting, inspiring and opening up new views for the eleventh year.
You’re welcome.
ART-MUS team
Workshop: making a “tactile” synthesizer.
Cirkulacija2 (Ajdovščina underpass) on Thursday, December 11th at 6PM.
The workshop will be DIY, relying on the plans of sound explorer Nick Collins as described in his book Handmade Electronic Music – The Art of Hardware Hacking (in Chapter 11) from 2006. The purpose of the workshop: to make a pocket synthesizer from a portable radio receiver (battery-powered, as the source of sound manipulation will be your own skin) that is controlled by touch; the sound result will be random, depending on the size and type of receiver. The initiator is a curious amateur who, in lack of own knowledge and with minimum experience, can only offer organization. The participants will be primarily guided by the aforementioned book which can be found online (also be available in .pdf format for the participants of the workshop). Depending on the motives and interests, we can expand the workshop to explore other possibilities for making electronic instruments from various electronic devices in further sessions.
Due to limited space, the workshop will be limited to 7 participants, therefore you are required to register at rojc.ales@gmail.com.
You should bring:
- a battery-powered radio (with analog tuning, possibly with a mic output and a headphone input) (to be found cheap in the sunday flea market)
- suitable batteries
- electrical tape
Organized by Aleš Rojc.
V časopisu Delo je bil 28. novembra 2025 na strani 10 objavljen članek novinarke Manje Pušnik z naslovom »Podhod Ajdovščina: od grdega račka do laboda«. V njem med drugim piše, da je Podhod Ajdovščina zdaj zbirališče brezdomcev in odvisnikov. Ob tem pa nas preseneča, da v članku ni niti z besedo omenjeno večletno živahno kulturno dogajanje, ki se odvija v istem podhodu.
Z zapuščenimi prostori v Podhodu Ajdovščina od leta 2020 upravljata organizaciji s statusom v javnem interesu na področju kulture – KUD Center 21, znan kot Hupa Brajdič produkcija in Cirkulacija 2, ki imata z Mestno občino Ljubljana sklenjeni pogodbi o začasni uporabi prostorov. Tam imajo umetniki svoje ateljeje in delavnice ter prizorišča, kjer se odvijajo številni umetniški, raziskovalni in produkcijski dogodki, ki pomembno soustvarjajo neinstitucionalno kulturno krajino Ljubljane. Naše delovanje podpirajo Mestna občina Ljubljana (v nadaljevanju MOL), Ministrstvo za kulturo RS (v nadaljevanju MK RS), Javni sklad za kulturne dejavnosti (v nadaljevanju JSKD) in drugi, kar potrjuje visoko kakovost programov.
V prostorih Hupa Brajdič produkcije se letno zvrsti povprečno 70 javnih dogodkov z glasbenega, uprizoritvenega, vizualnega in intermedijskega področja, poleg rednih vaj in produkcijskih procesov. Poleg članic in članov kolektiva tu gostujejo številne kulturne organizacije, kolektivi, festivali in ustvarjalci iz Slovenije in tujine. Med njimi so: Cikel svobodno improvizirane glasbe Taktišče z mednarodnimi zasedbami priznanih glasbenikov, Kavč festival, različne glasbene zasedbe v okviru tedenskih jam session-ov Jazz klub Mezzoforte, V-F-X Ljubljana – Mednarodni festival eksperimentalnih avdiovizualnih praks, Radio Študent, Društvo ŠKUC, Akademija za gledališče, radio, film in televizijo, Etno zbor Ljelje, RTV Slovenija, Big Nose, Feministični pevski zbor Z’borke, Mladinski center ULCA, zasedba Orkestrion, zasedba Zhlehtet, improvizacijska gledališka skupina Glumissimo, kolektiv Odprta scena in mnogi drugi.
Delovanje Cirkulacija 2 je že od leta 2009 financirano z javnimi sredstvi. Od 2016 letne programe financira MOL. Program, ki ga trenutno izvajamo je bil potrjen na javnem razpisu MOL JPR-PROG-2024-2027: TRANSDISCIPLINARNI PROGRAMI. Vsako leto naknadno prijavljamo posamezne projekte še na MK RS in JSKD. V prostorih Cirkulacije 2 se letno zvrsti okrog 50 javnih dogodkov z intermedijskega, transdisciplinarnega, performativnega, plesnega, zvočnega, uprizoritvenega in vizualnega področja. Cirkulacija 2 se produkcijsko posveča živi umetnosti in eksperimentalnim ustvarjalnim pristopom. Zaradi odprte strukture delovanja in neobremenjenosti z žanri je program bolj dostopen raznolikemu občinstvu, ki ne išče klasičnih umetnostnih okvirov. Poleg našega letnega programa vsako leto gostimo festivale, skupine in posamezne umetnice iz Slovenije in tujine, kot na primer mednarodni feministični in kvirovski festival Rdeče zore, mednarodni plesni festival Cofestival, mednarodni festival experimentalnega zvoka Prepaired surroundings, Radart, Animateka, Art Mus, Niansa, Mednarodni festival sodobnih umetnosti – Mesto žensk, festival Tresk in drugi. Do sedaj smo sodelovali z mnogo organizacij in javnimi zavodi: Akademija za likovno umetnost in oblikovanje Ljubljana, Via Negativa, FriForma, Zavod SPLOH, Rdeče zore, Mesto žensk, Radio Študent, VIST, KUD Transforma, Prostorož, Bivališča Branislave Sušnik, Zavod Projekt Atol, Društvo Ljudmila itd.
Zbiranje brezdomcev in odvisnikov v Podhodu Ajdovščina ni odgovornost umetniških kolektivov, ki tam delujemo. Ker se je MOL problematike lotil z nenadnim začasnim zaprtjem podhoda, smo se znašli v nezavidljivem položaju, ki ga v dialogu z mestom trenutno aktivno rešujemo zato, da lahko do pričetkov gradbenih del nemoteno izvajamo naš program, ustvarjamo, delamo in še naprej prispevamo k kulturnemu življenju v mestnem središču. Številčnost dogodkov, obiskovalcev in medijskih objav o naših programih jasno kaže na nujnost ohranitve neinstitucionalnih umetniških prizorišč v prestolnici.
Dejstvo, da novinarka v omenjenem članku ta pomemben del dogajanja v Podhodu Ajdovščina povsem spregleda, se nam zaradi zgornjih navedb zdi še toliko bolj nenavadno in neprimerno, še posebej, ker sta imeni obeh kulturnih organizacij jasno označeni na izložbah, prizorišče pa je od Delove stolpnice oddaljeno dobrih pet minut hoje.
Pri celotni zgodbi nikakor ne želimo prezreti osnovnega problema v Podhodu Ajdovščina in v drugih kritičnih točkah v mestu. Namreč problema odvisnosti in z njo povezanih socialnih stisk. Verjamemo, da je rešitev situacije mogoča le s sodelovanjem vseh deležnikov: mesta, stroke, socialnih služb, terenskih ekip, zdravstvenih programov in skupnosti.
Ekipi Hupa Brajdič produkcije in Cirkulacije 2.
