VOICE at Ars Electronica 2025: The Quiet Commons, Listening Through Panic

From September 3–7, 2025, Linz once again transformed into a global hub for media art at the Ars Electronica Festival. This year’s theme, PANIC – yes/no, questioned whether panic is the only logical response to today’s crises—or whether other forms of awareness, resilience, and collective action are possible.

“It’s not about glorifying panic. It’s about listening to it. Because sometimes it’s the clearest signal that change is not only inevitable – it’s already begun.” — Gerfried Stocker, Artistic Director of Ars Electronica

Exploring Panic, Hope, and Resilience

The festival’s main exhibition in POSTCITY showcased how art can help us reflect in times of upheaval. From Calin Segal’s Whispers, examining algorithmically curated content, to Noemi Iglesias Barrios’s The Falling City, which used AI to search for love instead of aggression, visitors were invited to explore both fear and hope.

Other highlights included Dystopia Land by Etsuko Ichihara and CCBT Tokyo, a participatory project imagining alternative futures, and the STARTS Prize showcase, celebrating EU-supported collaborations at the crossroads of art, science, and technology.

The festival also featured Europe Day (September 5), marking Austria’s 30th anniversary in the EU with discussions on how European initiatives—Horizon Europe, Creative Europe, EIT, and the New European Bauhaus—support creativity and cultural resilience.

Inspiring Lectures and Keynotes

Alongside the exhibitions, Ars Electronica offered a rich program of talks and panels, including:

• Co-Creating Key Transformation Indicators – on community-driven metrics for societal change.
• Dual Futures: Reclaiming the Stack for Europe’s Commons – rethinking Europe’s digital infrastructures.
• New Pathways: AI, Art, and Collaboration in Citizen Science – #Education – innovative approaches to participatory science.
• Impact Initiative: Transforming Medicine through AI and Art – showcasing cross-sectoral collaboration in health.
• The Future of Arts & Health Industries Encounters – exploring how arts contribute to healthcare innovation.
• Keynote by Jill Sonke: When Hope is a Creative Act – presenting the arts as a public health imperative.

These lectures underscored how Ars Electronica is more than a festival—it is a think tank for Europe’s future, where creativity, technology, and society converge.

The VOICE Assembly: Creating a Quiet Commons

Among the participatory highlights was The VOICE Assembly – The Quiet Commons, Listening Through Panic, organized by Martina Radanović, Senior Project Manager at RISE – Research and Innovation Services, together with VOICE artists Anita McKeown (FutureFocus21c), Zeynep Birsel (WAAG), Marta Coto (INOVA+), Mafalda Ferreira (NOVA+), and Margherita Soldati (WAAG).

This interactive workshop explored how artistic practices can offer calm, reflective responses to social and ecological crises. Participants co-created a “quiet commons”—a shared space for listening, care, and collective imagination—providing an artistic counterpoint to panic-driven reactions.

Workshop Flow

• Framing & Mapping: Introduction to VOICE and the Quiet Commons concept. Participants mapped their personal “panic points” and “calm zones” to visualize where they find overwhelm or resilience.
• Method Stations
  • Interspecies Communication (Zeynep & Martina) – using Mentor Species Cards to imagine resilience through non-human perspectives.
  • Sensory Connection via Scent (Margherita & Marta) – using World Sensorium fragrance 2025 to connect memory, body, and community.
• Sharing & Reflection

Why It Matters

In line with the festival theme, the VOICE Assembly demonstrated that panic is not the only response. By slowing down and engaging creatively, communities can find new forms of agency rooted in care, imagination, and collaboration.

This workshop directly connects to the mission of VOICE (Valorising Artist-Led Innovation Through Citizen Engagement)—a Horizon Europe–funded project engaging artists and citizens to co-create responses to urgent challenges such as biodiversity loss, food waste, and plastic pollution.

By linking art, research, and civic action, VOICE helps build resilience not only for individuals, but for communities across Europe.

Photo credit: Ars Electronica & Martina Radanović