“Regardless of the medium, performance artists explicitly explore and enact their holistic autonomies and interiorities (gendered, spiritual, emotional, and political), not simply their bodily corporeality. If this process takes place within a recorded electronic or digital environment, it is the medium that is virtual, unreal or disembodied, not the human performer within it. In the performance arts, whether in a theater, on a street corner, or on a computer monitor, the medium is not the message (and never has been); the performer is.” (Dixon, 2007, p. 215). With these words, Steve Dixon, author of Digital Performance: A History of New Media in Theater, Dance, Performance Art, Installation (2007), reminds us of the centre of gravity and the point of reference, from which contemporary debates about the use of new media in arts often diverge: that the message was not about, it is not about the means that the artist uses to convey it; it is the artist themselves, the performer, who transforms the message and interweaves, with a plethora of means, tools and parameters, the motivation and the result, which aims to rebaptize our perspective around the world.
These exact words characterize to the fullest extent the organization of the seventh edition of MMMAD Festival, a proud and substantial partner of the DIGITAL on STAGE (101173738) project, which was organized from April 16 to 26, 2026, across various venues all around the city of Madrid, Spain. Having established its position as one of the leading events dedicated to the intersection of digital art, public space, and contemporary technologies, this year’s programme included installations, performances, urban interventions and many more innovative gatherings, featuring a plethora of innovative artists and performers, among others, artists that were co-funded by the Cascade Funding Programme of the DIGITAL on STAGE project.
MMMAD Festival is an independent non-profit project that explores the intersections between digital culture and public space. It was founded back in 2020 by Aida Salán (Madrid, 1992), Cristóbal Baños (Murcia, 1995) and Diego Iglesias (Madrid, 1992). Each year’s edition displays an extensive programme of exhibitions, installations, performances, and workshops, with the core aim to bridge digital art with the general public and art consumption, while they support emerging talent, young artists and creators at the same time. MMMAD collaborates with some of the most important cultural institutions in Madrid, such as Colección SOLO, Espacio Cultural Serrería Belga, Espacio Fundación Telefónica, Goethe-Institut Madrid, La Casa Encendida, Medialab Prado, TAI Escuela de Artes or TBA21, among others. In addition, the festival has transformed more than 400 urban screens throughout the city into cultural devices, thanks to the support of companies such as Clear Channel, SMTH or Super 8 Media.
This year’s edition, supported also under the framework of the DIGITAL on STAGE project, reinforced the festival’s commitment to international cooperation, innovation and development of new formats related to the intersection of performance and technology. Under the theme “Terms of Use”, the festival presented a multidisciplinary programme that explored how bodies, technologies and ecologies are mutually shaped within complex systems we already inhabit. Rather than imagining utopian futures, this edition focused on the structures operating in the present – from artificial intelligence and algorithmic control systems to altered ecologies and posthuman imaginaries.
The programme included installations, performances, urban interventions, and professional gatherings, taking place in venues such as Réplika Teatro, HYPER HOUSE, Navesierra, and GAVIOTA, as well as outdoor locations including Palacio de la Prensa, Casa de Campo, and Cementerio de la Almudena. In addition, more than 300 Clear Channel urban screens across the city were activated, transforming Madrid into a large-scale open-access digital gallery.
Featured artists included Candela Capitán, Robert B. Lisek, Irene Molina, Tadej Droljc, Túlio Rosa, Santiago Colombo, Carles Castaño, Marika Hedemyr, Paco Ladrón de Guevara, Paloma Madrid, Pablo Aragón, and Vicky Leaks, among others, presenting projects that range from artificial intelligence and biometric systems to plant biofeedback, robotics, and new forms of digital embodiment.
As the journey of the DIGITAL on STAGE project continues, MMMAD Festival 2026 was a first stop in the stage of promoting artists who are reconstructing the way performing arts are developed and consumed in the modern era. Leaving, once again, a dynamic echo in the industry, both locally and nationally, but now also at a pan-European level, the Festival created the necessary conditions for the introduction of the performing arts into a new era, which in no way bleeds traditional artistic practice; on the contrary, it gave it new meanings, tools and means, reminding the audience that art is not static, but dynamic and evolving. The Festival left a resounding impact, attracting crowds and setting the stage for the next Festivals, to be supported by the DIGITAL on STAGE project, namely the Capotave Kilowatt Festival, in Italy in July 2026 and the For Real Festival, in Belgium in November 2026.
As MMMAD continues to demonstrate how digital art can move beyond traditional venues and reshape the way we experience performance in everyday life, let’s join them in this creative journey and establish new models under the performing arts sector at pan-European level.
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Photos courtesy of MMMAD Festival 2026 © Maru Serrano
Videos courtesy of MMMAD Festival 2026 © CENIZA
