The International Media Art Festival CYFEST 17 is on at the Cafesjian Center for the Arts in Yerevan, Armenia, until 17 January 2027. Its main exhibition, Natura Naturans: Human Beings, Nature, Landscape, opened to the public on 15 October 2026. This report draws on photographs, videos and notes sent to Honargardi by Michel Allahverdian.
Who is behind it
CYFEST 17 is organised by the Cafesjian Center for the Arts and CYLAND Media Art Lab (the official announcement for this edition names the CYLAND Foundation as organiser), with the Frants Foundation as general sponsor. According to the official presentation, the exhibition brings together works by more than 35 international artists and engages with the legacy of the Organic School and its experiments with colour, light, space and movement. Part of the show extends into the architecture and surroundings of Yerevan’s Cascade.
Beyond Perception: exploring the unseen world
Bringing together works by more than 35 international artists, the exhibition explores the relationship between contemporary media art, natural processes, light, technology and human perception at the Cafesjian Center for the Arts. The Center’s presentation says it draws on sunlight, magnetic fields, geological matter, biological form, cosmic radiation and electromagnetic signals to show how technology and the material world shape what we perceive.
Live in the Moment: when movement becomes art
The festival’s public programme brings together live performances, experimental sound and moving images, featuring encounters between dancers, musicians and a humanoid robot that explore the evolving relationship between the human body, technology and space.
According to CYLAND’s published programme, the opening night on 15 October included performances by Jaanika Peerna, φø, and Andrey Smirnov and Dafin Antoniadou. Alexandra Dementieva and Andy Barrt presented a work with a Unitree G1 EDU humanoid robot, developed with Engineering City, and Francesco Cavaliere and Nicola Ratti gave sound performances. Marina Alexeeva’s mapping work Looking at You is shown on the Cascade façade.
The learning programme includes a talk by Lev Manovich on AI as a visual artistic medium and a curator’s talk by Barbara London, What Works?. A sound art and performance programme runs throughout the three months of the exhibition.
Practical information
Dates: 15 October 2026 to 17 January 2027. Venue: Cafesjian Center for the Arts, 10 Tamanyan Street, Yerevan 0009, Armenia.
Sources: CYLAND Foundation’s official programme (cyland.org); Cafesjian Center for the Arts website (cmf.am); notes by Michel Allahverdian. Report and photographs: Michel Allahverdian, for Honargardi, October 2026.