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Var Digital Art Launches Biennial Award for Italian Digital Artists

award · 2026-04-27

Var Digital Art has launched the VDA Award, a competition held every two years to honor exceptional Italian digital art. Twelve talented artists from Italy have been chosen, including Luca Pozzi, Chiara Passa, and Federica Di Pietrantonio, among others. A jury made up of critics, curators, and historians, like Chiara Canali and Domenico Quaranta, alongside Var Digital Art's artistic director Davide Sarchioni, selected these artists. The award highlights the intersection of art and technology, featuring works in areas like virtual reality and generative AI. Each artist will present one screen-based work, with four finalists to be revealed in September for an exhibition at Rimini's Palazzo dei Congressi on October 26-27 during the "Shape the present, build the future" event.

Key facts

  • Var Digital Art launches the first VDA Award, a biennial contest for Italian digital artists.
  • Twelve participants announced: Luca Pozzi, Chiara Passa, Federica Di Pietrantonio, Domenico Dom Barra, Debora Hirsch, Martin Romeo, Rino Stefano Tagliafierro, Davide Maria Coltro, Matteo Succi (Svccy), Danilo Correale, Roberto Fassone, Kamilia Kard.
  • Jury includes Chiara Canali, Valentino Catricalà, Rebecca Pedrazzi, Domenico Quaranta, and artistic director Davide Sarchioni.
  • Award focuses on art-tech intersections: VR, algorithmic images, neural networks, generative AI.
  • Chiara Passa has been using net art and VR since 1997.
  • Each participant submits one screen-based work.
  • Four finalists will be selected in September for an exhibition at Palazzo dei Congressi, Rimini.
  • Exhibition coincides with Var Group convention on October 26-27, 2023.

Entities

Artists

  • Luca Pozzi
  • Chiara Passa
  • Federica Di Pietrantonio
  • Domenico Dom Barra
  • Debora Hirsch
  • Martin Romeo
  • Rino Stefano Tagliafierro
  • Davide Maria Coltro
  • Matteo Succi (Svccy)
  • Danilo Correale
  • Roberto Fassone
  • Kamilia Kard

Institutions

  • Var Digital Art
  • Var Group
  • Palazzo dei Congressi di Rimini

Locations

  • Rimini
  • Italy

Sources