Since 2011, the Foreign Ministry has been cooperating very successfully with Ars Electronica in the field of animated film. In cooperation with the Representations and Cultural Forums abroad, the best-animated films from the submissions to Prix Ars Electronica are presented worldwide. To date, the Ars Electronica Animation Festival has toured more than 30 countries and is already an annual fixture at many destinations.
Introduced in 2021, the Award for Digital Humanity honours projects and artworks that encourage a fundamental rethinking of the way we use technology towards an active digital future based on ethical principles. The prize is endowed with € 10,000 and will be awarded at the Prix Ars Electronica Gala. The condition for participation in the award competition is a submission to the Prix Ars Electronica or the S+T+ARTS-Prize.
Due to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, in 2022 the Austrian Foreign Ministry developed a new international project in the field of human rights and in support of free art together with Ars Electronica. Due to external circumstances – be it the devastation of war or political or social repression – artists in many parts of the world and, since 2022, also in Europe can no longer realise and present their art freely and unhindered. Every year, State of the ART(ist) awards prizes to projects selected by an international jury within the framework of the Ars Electronica Festival and presents them offline and online in a virtual art gallery during the festival. In its first edition, the project focused on supporting artists from Ukraine. In 2023, the focus will lie on the question “What is Risk?”
