smART + TECH
+ NATURE LabFaculty of Arts and Design
West University of Timișoara
Current exhibition
KLIUS+

Kunstuni Linz International
Universities Seminar
10 September 2026

The next node

ISEA Dubai 2026
6–15 November

Sensing the Data, Practicing the Care ↗

smART + TECH + NATURE Lab | FAD/UVT

From Techno-Ecologies to aLiving Knowledge Circuit

Presenter: Aura Bălănescu, PhD, Lecturer

Faculty of Arts and Design, West University of Timișoara
Explore the exhibition

Move through the field. Follow the circuit.Touch the field. Follow the circuit.Animation paused. Resume to explore.

Organizers
Co-financed by · research programme
Follow the circuit
A living knowledge circuit · In motion
01 / ISEA Dubai 2026Ecological Futures Lab

Navigating by New Stars

Sensing the Data,
Practicing the Care.

Six works.
Art, technology and practices of care.

The smART + TECH + NATURE Lab brings artistic research, technological mediation and ecological thinking into dialogue at ISEA Dubai. Six works explore how presence, perception and shared environments can become practices of care.

A new encounter in an ongoing journey — connecting research, education, curatorial practice and international exchange.

Discover the six works

ContextISEA Dubai 2026

Special trackEcological Futures Lab:
Navigating by New Stars

International contextZayed University &
Land Art Generator Initiative

Symposium dates6–15 November 2026

02 / Dataland IncubatorFAD / UVT · Timișoara

Art. Technology.
Nature.
In continuous
conversation.

A living knowledge circuit.

The Lab connects artistic inquiry, education, curatorial practice and collaboration. Ideas move between exhibitions, universities and communities, then return to transform the ways we teach, create and learn.

Professors, students, alumni, artists and researchers contribute to a shared environment of experimentation. Knowledge grows through exchange — and through the relationships that sustain it.

Meet the community
Artistic researchEducationCuratorial practiceInternational collaboration
04 / The peopleA distributed research community

The team behind
the circuit.

Different practices.
Knowledge created together.

01

Aura Bălănescu

PhD, Lecturer
Project Coordinator

02

Ion Gherman

PhD, Associate Professor

03

Mădălin Mărienuț

PhD, Lecturer

Artists, alumni
& researchers

  • Paul BabencuMA
  • Deian BerarMA
  • Timeea DragomirMA
  • Vlad JelmăreanAlumnus
  • Marius Jurca / 13m10jAlumnus
  • Bogdan MateiAlumnus
  • Livia MateiașAlumna
  • Andreea Pleșa & Mihaela VișovanAlumni
  • Miki VelciovPhD candidate

Student
contributors

  • Elena Ilin
  • Matei Negruțiu
  • Bianca Pascu
  • Callista Birta
  • Daniela A. Radu
  • Andrei Bucovanu
03 / The exhibitionSix artistic encounters

A constellation
of artistic practices.

Six gestures: image, gaze, message,
breath, time and touch.

05 / The journeyExchange · transformation · return

From one encounter
to the next.

Linz / 2025

Knowledge
gained.

Techno-Ecologies for a Fragile Earth
Ars Electronica Campus

Timișoara / 2026

Knowledge
activated.

Extending the Body, Reflecting the Earth
New European Bauhaus

Linz / 2026

Knowledge
reflected.

From Techno-Ecologies to a Living Knowledge Circuit
KLIUS, University of Arts Linz

Dubai / 2026

Knowledge
in circulation.

Sensing the Data, Practicing the Care
ISEA Dubai

06 / The networkInstitutions, communities & support

A shared
research ecosystem.

Organizers

FAD / UVTTehnoarte Association

Faculty of Arts and Design, West University of Timișoara
Represented by Professor Diana Andreescu, PhD, Dean

Tehnoarte Association · Technological expertise & logistics
Represented by Aura Bălănescu, President

Academic
partnerships

UVT ICAMCenter of Research in Curatorial Studies, Art History and Critique, and Heritage StudiesRegional Centre for Research and Expertise in Conservation and RestorationCCCADDCCAVC
  • Creative Center of Contemporary Visual Arts
  • Creative & Research Center of Decorative Arts and Design
  • Center of Research in Curatorial Studies, Art History and Critique, and Heritage Studies
  • Regional Centre for Research and Expertise in the Conservation and Restoration of Tangible Cultural Heritage

International
contexts · 2025–2026

  • University of Arts Linz
  • Ars Electronica Linz
  • New European Bauhaus, Brussels
  • ISEA Dubai · Zayed University & Land Art Generator Initiative

Research
funding

Administrația Fondului Cultural Național

UVT Start Grant (2025)

National Cultural Fund Administration
UVT Foundation (2025) · Tehnoarte Association (2026)

The project does not necessarily reflect the position of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or for the ways in which its results may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the funding beneficiary.

The circuit continues

ISEA Dubai
2026.

6–15 November

Sensing the Data, Practicing the Care
Ecological Futures Lab: Navigating by New Stars

Consult the official programme for venues,
artwork availability and opening times.

Explore ISEA 2026

Your visit / Your choice

Visitor preferences

Accepting enables participation analytics on exhibition pages and interactive editions: navigation, active time, clicks, touch, sampled pointer positions, scroll, artwork controls, errors and contribution events. We also record your full IP address, browser and device information.

We do not record or save video or microphone audio. Camera and microphone effects run locally on your phone or computer. Feature Fusion is the exception for a photo you choose to submit; its processing and storage are explained before you send it.

Session heatmaps and reconstructed visits help us study how the exhibition is explored. They do not record camera images, microphone audio, passwords or the contents of text fields. Administrators can view participation records; these are not shown in the public gallery.

Interactive editions require acceptance. Declining keeps presentation pages available. Camera and microphone access always require a separate browser permission. Feature Fusion explains its AI image processing and gallery publication before you submit a contribution.

Storage and retention

Name / technology
isea_replay_tab · sessionStorage
Provider / scope
This exhibition website
Purpose
Random tab identifier used to join accepted navigation and artwork reconstruction. Contains no camera or audio data.
Category
Participation reconstruction, after acceptance
Retention
Until the tab closes; removed on withdrawal.
Your control
Withdraw in Visitor preferences.
Name / technology
isea_language · localStorage
Provider / scope
This exhibition website
Purpose
Remembers the language you select (EN or RO), including after a page refresh. Contains only the language code.
Category
Language preference
Retention
Until you change the language or clear browser storage.
Your control
Choose EN or RO, or clear this website’s browser storage.
Name / technology
isea_visitor_choice · localStorage
Provider / scope
This exhibition website
Purpose
Stores Accept / Do not accept, the notice revision, choice date and expiry. Acceptance enables participation analytics and interactive access.
Category
Remembers your choice
Retention
30 days; renewed only when you make a new choice.
Your control
Change or clear the choice in Visitor preferences.
Name / technology
__Secure-isea_session · Secure, HttpOnly, SameSite cookie, API path only
Provider / scope
This exhibition website
Purpose
Connects accepted participation events to a random session code. Full IP, browser/device details, events, heatmaps and reconstructed visits are stored privately on the server.
Category
Participation analytics, after acceptance
Retention
Cookie: up to 30 days. A participation session expires after 30 minutes of inactivity. Archived records have no automatic expiry.
Your control
Withdraw in Visitor preferences to stop collection and revoke the session.
Name / technology
isea_fusion_pending · sessionStorage
Provider / scope
This exhibition website
Purpose
Remembers the random identifier of a pending Feature Fusion generation so a refresh can recover its status. Contains no camera image.
Category
Contribution continuity
Retention
Until the generation finishes or the browser tab closes.
Your control
Cleared automatically when the result is received.
Name / technology
__Secure-isea_admin · Secure, HttpOnly, SameSite cookie
Provider / scope
This exhibition website
Purpose
Authenticates the private statistics console. Only created after an administrator signs in.
Category
Necessary for administrator authentication
Retention
8 hours, or until logout.
Your control
Sign out of the statistics console.

Participation records, reconstructed visits and generated artworks have no automatic expiry. The team reviews whether continued retention remains necessary for the research. Withdrawing stops future collection; it does not automatically erase existing records. Contact the exhibition team through the privacy notice for an existing-record request.

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