Currents New Media Festival

Parallel Studios

Parallel Studios ( a 501(c)(3) non-profit ) has been producing, curating and designing small and large scale currents video exhibitions in Santa Fe since 2002. In 2010 we launched CURRENTS: Santa Fe International New Media Festivalas an annual, citywide event. The Festival brings together the work of established, unrecognized and emerging New Media artists, from New Mexico, the US and the world, for events showcasing interactive and fine art video installations, multimedia performances, single channel video, animation, digital dome programs, experimental documentary,web based/app art forms, architectural mapping, the oculus rift, robotics and 3D printing. Parallel Studios reaches out to local high and middle school students through its Youth Media Makers Program. All events and programs are free.

While New Media Arts embody the basic motivations and intentions of all the fine arts, their distinctive use of technologies that are pervasive in 21st Century culture, make New Media Art a bridge between contemporary art and the general public. The Festival introduces the public to new technology molded by artists into vehicles for expression and the communication of ideas, broadening the definition of 21st century art making and fostering a more expansive use of technology.

CURRENTS provides the community with opportunities to experience New Media Arts in traditional venues, public and outdoor spaces. 5000 visitors attended festival events in 2013. The Festival is enjoyed by a broad demographic – children spinning through the galleries reveling in interactive New Media – seniors contemplating image and meaning – working class families – and savvy collectors.

The Festival is the result of a collaboration between Parallel Studios, its partners throughout the city and the many volunteers who invest their time to support this project. It is truly a community endeavor.