CPH:DOX unveils INTER:ACTIVE 2025 exhibition line-up under the theme ‘Untamed: Humanity Rewilded’

Curated by CPH:LAB’s Head of Studies, Mark Atkin, Untamed: Humanity Rewilded confronts the entrenched patterns of anthropocentric thinking and the historical exploitation of nature through a powerful body of works. The exhibition is shaped by the concept of ‘solastalgia’—a term coined by philosopher Glenn Albrecht to describe the emotional toll of environmental degradation and social alienation.

The exhibition brings together an eclectic mix of mediums, showcasing the breadth of creative exploration in contemporary art. From immersive virtual reality journeys and AI-driven installations to interactive video games and participatory experiences, the works challenge viewers to engage with art in dynamic and tactile ways. Traditional mediums such as animated graphic novels, communal readings, and sound installations are reimagined with technological and sensory innovation.

The exhibition also embraces multi-sensory performances, malware art, and augmented reality, creating a space for diverse storytelling to unfold, blurring the boundaries between the physical and digital worlds. Collectively, these varied forms invite audiences to rethink humanity’s relationship with nature, technology, and each other in a shared space of reimagination.

Rather than indulging in dystopian scenarios, the exhibition envisions an alternate path forward, where humanity works in collaboration with the environment. The artists presented seek to reconnect people’s fractured relationship with the Earth and each other, celebrating acts of rebellion against systems of exploitation, commodification, and alienation. As the world contends with the lingering effects of colonialism and technological commodification, Untamed: Humanity Rewilded calls on for imagining and creating new ways of being.

“With this theme, the works within the exhibition reject a narrow view of human progress and instead offer new narratives of collective resilience. The exhibition explores not only the possibility of rewilding the land, but also the critical need to rewild our imaginations, challenging us to confront the stories we tell about our place in the world”, says CPH:LAB’s Head of Studies, Mark Atkin.

CPH:DOX will award a 10,000 DKK cash prize to its top-selected INTER:ACTIVE work. The winner will also receive two full-access accreditations to the Industry Days at the NewImages Festival and two complementary industry accreditations for Sunny Side of the Doc, offering opportunities for industry engagement and networking. The jury includes XR artist and director/producer David Adler, curator Irene Campolmi with the third jury member yet to be confirmed.

The exhibition is open to all accredited guests and the public upon booking a slot and presenting a valid ticket.

Check out the exhibition and book tickets HERE.

Selected artworks in alphabetical order:

Aggregate by Distraction
Video game, 2024, France, World premiere

If an artificial intelligence were to learn to desire, what path would it take to bridge the space between intimacies? Aggregate is a collective process requiring a large number of players to take turns and experience reinforcement learning (punishment/reward) as they progress through the uncharted territory of machine learning and queer desire.

The Alluvials by Alice Bucknell
Video game, 2024, United States

The Alluvials is a four-level video game set in a near-future version of Los Angeles. Players take on the agency of conventionally non-playable and nonhuman characters, including wild fire, the LA River, a Yucca Moth and Joshua Tree, and a pack of wolves.

The Caring Machine by Cecilie Waagner Falkenstrømm
AI art, 2024, Denmark, International premiere

In the artwork ‘The Caring Machine’, we are invited to imagine that we are lying on our deathbeds, our loving digital companion ‘sitting’ by our side, watching over us, and speaking to us in a soothing human voice.

Constantinopoliad by Sister Sylvester & Nadah Eh Shazly
Installation, 2025, United Kingdom, International Premiere

‘Constantinopoliad’ is a handmade book, read collectively by the audience inside of a sound installation. A response to the archive of the poet Constantine Cavafy, the work is inspired by the blank and torn out pages in “Constantinopoliad, an epic”, the journal the teenage Cavafy began when he and his family fled Alexandria; by lost and missing archives through time; and by the ghosts, both erotic and historical, that visit the older Cavafy in his poems.

The Forest That Breathes Us by Jennifer Abbott, Jai Djwa, and Peter Fisher, Laura Werup, Maria Høeberg, Emma Pi Larsen, Rasmus Buch Andersen, Rasmus Degn, Anders Bjørn Rørbæk Pedersen & PIQSIQ
VR, 2025, Canada, World Premiere

A VR journey immersing participants in the sensory lives of a Douglas fir, a coyote, and a humpback whale, inviting reconciliation with the more-than-human world as active collaborators in life.

The Garden Says… by Uri Kranot, Michelle Kranot, Sara Topsøe Jensen, Sarah John, Marieke Breyne, Peter Fisher & Jakob Borrits Sabra
XR performance installation, 2025, Denmark, World Premiere

This is the garden. In this experience there is no game, there is no story to follow… It is an investigation into meetings. Meetings between human and nature, between human and technology, and most importantly, meetings between human and human.

Girlfriend Experience by Ugo Arsac, William Board, Marie Point, Mathieu Rozières & Dark Euphoria
Interactive video installation, 2024, France, International Premiere

Girlfriend Experience is an interactive video installation that explores emotional distress in our hyper-connected society.

Huk, The Jaguaress by Violeta Ayala & Yasmeen Hitti, Milton Riaño, Daniel Fallshaw, Rohan Banerjee, Brian Condori & Tanja Pelzmann
Interactive installation (Film Futurism), 2025, Australia, Canada, Bolivia, World premiere

An ancient jaguaress deity from the Amazon, reborn through artificial intelligence, calls on humanity to confront their role in her rainforest’s destruction and the future of our shared world.

Natural Contacts by Mark Fingerhut, Matthew D Gantt, Bridget DeFranco & Peter Burr
Interactive Installation, 2024, United States, International premiere

‘NATURAL CONTACTS’ is a piece of malware designed to arrest control over its host machine for 24 hours, transforming it into a dynamic virtual garden.

Songs of Travel by Ben Wahl, Lisley Viraphong & Jack Gutmann
Mobile game, 2024, Austria

An animated graphic novel exploring the unique stories of five migrants seeking new beginnings in Europe. Together, these stories paint a mosaic of themes such as our hopes, dreams, and identities; home; and the things we treasure most.

Tarang by Kinnari Saraiya
Expanded film, 2025, United Kingdom, European premiere

‘Tarang’ is a multimedia artwork by Kinnari Saraiya exploring colonial surveillance and indigenous dreamworlds. Using textiles, interactive tech, and dance, it reclaims dreams as a decolonial archive.

Truth Bears No Scandal by Ahmed Umar
Video installation, 2024, Norway, European premiere

With my installation, I explore three well-known Sudanese songs with hidden backstories—songs written by males for their male lovers, and females for their female lovers. These stories, often concealed to obscure the queer side of our culture, are presented here as I believe they should be, direct and unapologetically queer.

Photo above: Vanja Holmaa.