One of the targets of the Holy Fire exhibition (iMAL, 18-30 april) is to take a snapshot of the present situation of New Media Art, an art practice arose from the meeting of art and computer technology in the Sixties. This practice developed into a self-built, parallel art system and had a second youth in the last half of the Nineties.
New Media Art has always been described as process oriented, immaterial, and therefore un-collectable and un-preservable. Now getting to its adult age, it is entering the contemporary art world and market.

Moderated by Patrick Lichty (Columbia College, Chicago),with Alexei Shulgin (RU), Olia Lialina (RU/DE), Steve Sacks (bitforms, New York), Wolf Lieser (DAM, Berlin), Stphane Manguet (Numeriscausa, Paris), Philippe Van Cauteren (SMAK, BE), Domenico Quaranta (I) and Yves Bernard (Brussels).

Catalogue Domenico Quaranta, Yves Bernard (eds), Holy Fire. Art of the Digital Age, FPEditions, Brescia 2008. Hardcover, color, 128 pages. ISBN 978-88-903308-4-1 25.00

Featuring contributions by: Inke Arns & Jacob Lillemose, Yves Bernard, Aristarkh Chernyshev, Roman Minaev & Alexei Shulgin, Vuk Cosic, Rgine Debatty, Steve Dietz, Joan Leandre, Olia Lialina & Dragan Espenschied, Patrick Lichty, Wolf Lieser, Vicente Matallana, Eva & Franco Mattes aka 0100101110101101.org, Fabio Paris, Christiane Paul, Domenico Quaranta, Charles Sandison, Magdalena Sawon & Tamas Banovich, Paul Slocum, Bruce Sterling, Michele Thursz, Mark Tribe, Ubermorgen.com, Karen A. Verschooren.

About iMAL iMAL (interactive Media Art Laboratory), is a non-profit association created in Brussels in 1999. It was founded by individual artists, media producers, interactive designers, software engineers, and by NICC (a Belgian association of visual artists) with the objective to support artistic forms and creative practices using computer and network technologies as their medium. In October 2007, iMAL opened its new venue in Brussels, a Center for Digital Cultures and Technology, a new place of about 600m2 for the meeting of artistic, scientific and industrial innovations, a place entirely dedicated to the contemporary artistic and cultural practices emerging from the fusion of computer, telecommunication, network and media. IMAL is a laboratory and a workplace for artists in residence. It supports artists during their experimentation and research process as well as for the production and diffusion of their works. iMAL produces professional workshops targeted to creative people (artists, designers, developers,) under the direction of recognised artists. iiMAL organises public events and collaborates with other european centers. Works (co-)produced by iMAL have been shown in Helsinki (Kiasma, 2003), Madrid (VIDA, 2003), Los Angeles (AIM iV, 2003), Stuttgart (Filmwinter, 2004), Lisbon (Alkantara, Close Encounters III, 2006), Amsterdam (Victorian Circus at Brakke Grond, 2006), Basle (Viper, 2006), Montral (Temps dImages, 2007), Sao Paulo (File, 2007), Ghent (Almost Cinema at Vooruit, 2007), Shanghai (eArts/Ars Electronica, 2007), London (Sum/Some of the PARTS, 2007). iMAL is supported by the French-speaking Community of Belgium. More about iMAL on www.imal.org/index.php?sub=about_EN