"Variations Numériques" Festival 2026

The "Variations Numériques" Festival will take place in St Etienne from January 27 to 31, 2026. 

Variations Numériques is a festival that aims to bring together visual and musical artistic practices that converge in the use of digital technologies. It aims to showcase artistic creations (installations, performances, and concerts) produced by CCNT (Contemporary Creation and New Technologies) Master's program second-year students and DIGICREA students.

The program

The installations designed especially for the 2026 edition of the festival will be accessible during the five days of the festival.

They have been distributed throughout the city of Saint-Étienne in an easily accessible journey, including locations at Jean Monnet University, art exhibition venues, and local shops (see list below).

Performances and concerts will also be held on the evenings of January 29 and 30. These projects will be led by students and local artists and musicians, who have been invited to perform. These performances and concerts are also part of the International Conference on Musical Creation  - RICM26, a symposium to be held in Saint-Étienne on January 29, 30, and 31, 2026.

All activities and events at the Variations Numériques festival are free and open to the public (according to the opening hours of each venue hosting us).

Festival venues

Several venues and shops in St. Etienne will host installations:
-    Paris-Tokyo bookstore (location)
-    Les Croquelinottes bookstore (location)
-    Jeito Photographie gallery (location)
-    "Les Cimaises" and "Le Cyclorama" exhibition halls (location)
-    UJM Library on the Tréfilerie campus (location) 
-    Tarentaize public library and its "Le Combo" digital space (location)

Three venues will host concerts and performances:
-    "Le Fil" concert hall on January 29 (location)
-    UJM Tréfilerie campus "New scene" and UJM Maison de l’Université theater on January 30 (location)
The concerts on January 30 benefit from a partnership with the Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain (EOC), whose four soloists will perform most of the works on the program.

“Kinesthesia” 2026 edition

"The 2026 edition of the festival is entitled “Kinesthesia.”
This term refers to the sensitivity and conscious perception of our movements and our bodies. Our festival explores our relationship with the body and its movements through new technologies.
Today, whether through a screen, a projection, or virtual reality, digital technology captures our movements, our movements, and our physical sensations to recreate them in virtual worlds.
Our festival focuses on this idea of ever-increasing immersion: feeling a body that does not belong to us, a space that does not exist, being immersed in worlds made up of images and sounds that surround us.
Our era is divided: sometimes we fear technology and reject it, sometimes we accept it without question. Kinesthesia aims to place itself at the center of this debate by presenting works of art that use digital technology not to recreate our bodies, but to reveal new sensations, alter our perceptions, and reinvent our movements.
Come and question, experiment, and experience with us how digital art will make us move differently."

The festival is organized by the student association Electro-M – Contact: electromasso@gmail.com