Civa 2026: postacceleration

Preview: written before the show opened

Silke Grabinger's twin was never born. In QUANTWIN, made this year with Civa as a co-producer, that twin comes back as a soft robot attached to her body, an interactive partner built with Creative Robotics at the University of the Arts London.

She is one of five artists in the sixth Civa, Belvedere 21's festival of digital and hybrid art, and this year it is about speed. The museum's word, postacceleration, means acceleration is now the default setting, and the five were chosen for work that refuses to optimise. You meet a Tamagotchi-style creature fed by the audience's emotions, an installation about eye-tracking and the landscapes mined for our devices, and a video game whose player fails on purpose. A show against rushing, in a city whose cafés let you nurse one Melange for two hours.

Talks, film screenings and live performances run alongside. Admission is €12, €8 for students under 26 and over-65s, free under 19, and the building stays open until 9pm on Thursdays.