Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar), a Qatar Foundation partner university, will be presenting an exhibition titled Alternative Frequencies at the Ars Electronica Festival 2026 in Linz, Austria, from September 9–13.
The Ars Electronica Festival, an annual international media art gathering in Linz featuring exhibitions, performances, and conferences, offers an eclectic platform for artistic expression, bringing together artists, scientists, activists, and engineers from around the world.
“Alternative Frequencies demonstrates how interdisciplinary creative research can generate new ways of understanding the questions shaping contemporary life. By bringing students, faculty, and researchers into a shared process of inquiry and making, the exhibition positions collaboration, experimentation, and mentorship as central to knowledge production,” said Dr Diane Derr, associate dean for Research and Development at VCUarts Qatar.
“Pedagogically, the project extends well beyond the classroom. Students develop research-driven work alongside faculty and bring that work into conversation with an international audience. They are not simply learning about creative research; they are actively advancing it.”
Organised by the Gallery at VCUarts Qatar, the exhibition includes four experimental projects that demonstrate the multiple connections between visual and sonic systems, physical and digital interaction, biomaterials, and computational design.
The exhibition’s title, Alternative Frequencies, draws on radio broadcasting, where multiple frequencies broadcast simultaneously to extend a signal’s strength and reach. In response to the festival’s 2026 theme, “Negotiating Humanity,” the exhibition considers who shapes the future and which possibilities it holds.
By presenting new forms of interaction and cultural expression, Alternative Frequencies invites audiences to reflect on how meaning, perception, and communication can be translated across media.
In her project Chromesthesia, Mayar Ahmed explores the question: “What does colour sound like?” by showing how visual information is re-encoded as sound. At the exhibition, visitors will be able to paint with red, green, blue, and yellow markers while a camera translates each colour into distinct sounds.
Meanwhile, Ephemeral Sounds of the Gulf, created by Ayza Sheikh, Erika Tsuchiya, Hala Amer, Shawky Abdalla, Star Prieto, Yasamin Shaikhi, and Yasmeen Suleiman, uses biomaterials to reimagine the sonic and temporal profile of vinyl records. The project introduces new tonal possibilities while reducing ecological impact to raise awareness of the environmental implications of plastic pollution and an overly digitised world.
The third project, Bloom: Inspired by Nature, is a digitally fabricated mechanical sculpture that accelerates and elaborates the natural rhythms of blooming flowers to show frequency as both a natural and constructed phenomenon. It was developed by Abdul Rahman Anwar, Anastasia Marinova, Ardini Wan Edrin, Fatima Nazir, Jood Elbeshti, Noura Sharaf, Rab McClure, Shawky Abdalla, and Zaid Abueisa.
In Corporeal Resonance: Experimental Interactive Sound, Camerin McManus uses VCV Rack to develop an interactive gesture-based synthesiser that makes music from movement. The project positions the human body as an instrument and interface bridging physical and digital output.
Each of the four projects brings a distinctive idea to Ars Electronica’s theme by proposing an alternative view of the future of creative practice: It is a dynamic and fluid form of expression that is not limited to a single frequency.
“Our continued participation in the Ars Electronica Festival gives our students an invaluable opportunity to contribute research-driven work to global conversations on art and technology, while building relationships that can shape their future practice,” said Chase Westfall, curator and head of Gallery at VCUarts Qatar.
Alternative Frequencies will be on view at the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria, from September 9–13.
