Data Café to be featured at “Captured! Between Attention and Surveillance”
The two-day festival “Captured! Between Attention and Surveillance“ will be held on February 14 and 15, 2026, at the Kornhausforum Bern. It will highlight how sensor technology and artificial intelligence shape our physicality and perception and raise the question of how close technology has already come to us.
Whether in clothing, cars, or work and living spaces, sensors are omnipresent. In combination with artificial intelligence, they continuously collect and analyze data, blurring the boundaries between body and device. “Captured!” examines how these sensor and data collection technologies are changing our understanding of the body, public space, and perception—and what that means for our everyday lives.
The exhibition is curated by Prof. Chris Salter, head of the Immersive Arts Space at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), Jana Eske, research assistant at the Immersive Arts Space, and Nicolas Kerksieck, director of the Kornhausforum Bern.
Sensors measure what we feel, do, or even refrain from doing. This festival makes these often invisible technologies visible, and invites visitors to critically explore their social consequences.
Impact of new technologies
Showcasing artistic works from Switzerland, India, and South and North America, the festival focuses on topics such as sensor technology, surveillance, and hacking. Video projections and installations, VR, and audio formats will be on display, including a live performance in which visitors can hear and see their own bio-signals in real time.
Workshops and interactive discussions with artists, experts, and representatives of Swiss open data non-profit organizations – including our very own Data Café – will deepen the experience while opening up space for discussion.
The festival is part of “Bodies-Machines-Publics” – a two-year art-science-technology project funded by Pro Helvetia – which connects the Kornhausforum Bern, the Immersive Arts Space at ZHdK, Khoj Studios in New Delhi, and the NAVE center for artistic residencies and creation in Santiago de Chile.
«Captured!» is supported by the Agora program of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).