Perfolab Genova

A week of performing arts and technology projects with students in videogame, acting, digital humanities, and computer engineering degrees from Italy, Portugal, Romania and Spain focused on how science and technology can contribute to cultural welfare and well-being.

Date

13th to 17th April 2026

Main theme

Cultural welfare and well-being

This pilot explores how art-driven technologies can promote cultural welfare, fostering health, inclusion, and social cohesion. Using a transdisciplinary approach, it explores both the potential and the ethical and accessibility challenges of digital tools in mediating art and cultural heritage experiences, with art as a source of inspiration for more human-centered technology.

Entry point

"humanizing technology”, “art”, “cultural interaction”, “well-being & health”, “inclusion & social cohesion” and “multimodality”

Challenges

This workshop encourages students to critically examine cultural welfare technologies and their influence on how art and cultural heritage are experienced. Instead of assuming that technology inherently improves access, understanding, or well-being, the project highlights the tensions that arise when technological aims fail to match users’ actual needs, abilities, and social contexts. It addresses issues such as digital exclusion,information overload and social discomfort as possible unintended effects of art-related technologies.

Students are invited to reflect on whether technology genuinely enriches cultural experiences or whether it risks substituting, accelerating, or diminishing them. They will explore how artistic practices can offer alternative perspectives, such as seamlessly integrating technology into everyday life, encouraging meaningful social interaction, promoting slower and more reflective engagement, and creating inclusive, personalized experiences for diverse audiences.

Participants will collaborate in interdisciplinary teams that bring together expertise from both performative and technological fields, involving students from the partner universities. Each team will develop a concept for active engagement with cultural and artistic content, potentially supported by technology. The outcomes may take the form of participatory installations, interactive performances, game-based experiences, or other experimental formats that critically engage with both the potential and the limitations of cultural welfare technologies.

COLLABORATION

LegaCoop Liguria 

Auser Liguria  

Master Degree in Digital Humanities - Interactive Systems and Digital Media, University of Genoa

Casa Paganini - InfoMus research center, University of Genoa

Musei Nazionali di Genova - Palazzo Reale, Ministero della Cultura

Schedule

Day 1 (13th April - Monday)

Day 2 (14th April – Tuesday)

Day 3 (15th April – Wednesday)

Day 4 (16th April - Thursday)

Day 5 (17th April - Friday)

How to get to Casa Paganini 

By Metro:

Sarzano / Sant’Agostino

By foot:

Piazza Santa Maria in Passione, 34 - 16123 Genova (GE)

https://maps.app.goo.gl/gKeoexudXRJYwr5SA

DOCUMENTS

Welcome info, overview and challenges [download]

Suggested bibliography and videography [download] 

Initial publicity [download]

Project results [download]

Satisfaction survey [download]

STUDENT's PRESENTATIONS

"Did you know that apps like Google Maps have options to avoid stairs or difficult paths? That's why we focused on this challenge and designed a solution for our target group: elderly people between 65 and 75 years old. Our goal is an app that's easy to use and can positively impact their social life."

"Calm here is a gamified, health-based experience that consists of the interaction of the user’s smooth movements (yoga movements) in front of the chaotic videos playing on the monitor to help them control the videos and feel calm."

"This project addresses digital exclusion by helping elderly people who often feel intimidated by technology or struggle to connect with others in public spaces. We created a simple, accessible system where users scan a QR code and enter a website using their own smartphones, allowing them to feel comfortable and confident."

"FlipView is a project that addresses the challenge of digital toxicity, focusing on the polarization of perspectives on social media. Today, many users interact only with people who share similar opinions, which reinforces stereotypes and increases misunderstanding. Our goal is to help people realize that even those they fear or disagree with may share common ground."

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