Lahore is transforming into a living canvas of digital arts

Lahore’s cultural heart beat to the beat of technology and imagination from November 6 to 9 as the city hosted the fourth edition of the Lahore Digital Arts Festival (LDAF).

Entitled “Breathing Algorithms”, the festival attracted international artists from France, Canada, the UK, Iran and Denmark, transforming venues such as Alliance Française de Lahore, Aangun Cultural Centre, R Space, Alhamra Mall Road and Beaconhouse National University into digital innovation labs.

The event highlighted the power of art to inspire empathy, care and environmental awareness, while affirming Lahore’s position as a hub for emerging digital culture.

Co-curated by Najamul Assar and Sarah Rajper and presented in collaboration with Novembre Numerique, the French Embassy in Pakistan and Unesco, LDF reimagined algorithms not as cold codes but as living systems capable of connecting people, ideas and communities.

The festival sought to demonstrate that technology, when harnessed carefully, can encourage dialogue rather than division. “This exhibition reflects how artists across borders are using digital media not only to critique systems of power but also to envision futures shaped by collaboration, care and ecological consciousness,” said Najamul Assar, Founding Curator of LDF.

The exhibition and accompanying public programs were held at multiple venues in Lahore, offering the public various entry points to engage with digital art and its social implications.

Among the works that stood out was ‘Airborne Memory’, created by Lahore-based artists Fajr Faisal and Huzaifa Ahmad. The immersive installation visualized air quality data from 2020 to 2025, prompting the public to reflect on shared responsibility for the environment.

“It’s a reminder of how the air we breathe has traces of our choices and shared responsibilities,” the artists told Pakistan TV Digital.

International participants contributed installations, video projects, digital performances and interactive experiences that explored intersections of artificial intelligence, climate change and cultural identity.

French artist Mikhail Margolis praised the scale and organization of the festival, calling it “much better than many festivals I’ve attended elsewhere” and described his invitation to Lahore as “unexpected but delightful”.

Christina Menegazzi, Unesco’s culture and heritage expert, emphasized the wider significance of the festival. “Access to culture is a human right. It is especially important here in Pakistan, not only for artists but for every human being to remember that art nourishes the soul and connects us to each other,” he said.

During its four-day run, LDF blurred the lines between art, science and society. Interactive installations encouraged audiences to engage with pressing issues such as environmental sustainability, human connection and technological ethics.

The festival showed that digital innovation can foster understanding, empathy and creativity despite alienation. The festival also built on the momentum of the 2025 AI Action Summit in France, highlighting the transformative role of artificial intelligence in shaping societies, cultures and creative futures.

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly integrated into everyday life—from predictive algorithms to collective creativity—it raises questions of justice, equity, and sustainability that call for critical artistic inquiry.

At the same time, the world continues to grapple with the escalating climate crisis, particularly in countries like Pakistan, where urban centers like Lahore struggle with recurring smog and environmental degradation.

Deteriorating urban air quality is not only a public health crisis, but also a mirror reflecting structural inequalities, ecological apathy and gendered vulnerabilities. Breathing Algorithms presented a timely intervention, inviting artists, technologists and the public to imagine a future where technology, art and ethics converge for sustainable and inclusive change.

The festival explicitly explored how artificial intelligence intersects with climate justice and gendered experiences. Through curated exhibitions, residential exchanges and public programs, LDF has raised critical questions: how can artists use artificial intelligence to critique environmental collapse?

it also asks what new visual languages ​​emerge when gender, climate and artificial intelligence intersect in digital storytelling. and can algorithms be programmed to care, and how can speculative art deal with smog, displacement and planetary precariousness. These thematic concerns guided the creation of new works and opened space for public reflection.

As climate change threatens both tangible and intangible cultural heritage, LDF positioned digital art as a tool of resistance and conservation. Pollution, displacement and ecological degradation are eroding natural spaces, shared memory and traditional knowledge.

Leveraging artificial intelligence and creative technologies, the festival highlighted opportunities to document loss, reimagine the future, and cultivate care, inclusion, and environmental justice.

The artists participating in the festival were Aamina Hashmi, Areesha Khuwaja, Bahman Fakouri, Fajr Faisal, Hamza Bajwa, Haris Hidayatullah, Huzaifa Ahmad, Isabelle Arvers, John Desnoyers-Stewart, M4HK, Megan Smith, Mikhail Margolis, Miraal Mishaar Kabib. Ansari, Ujala Khan and Zuha Farooq.

The presentation team consisted of co-curators Najamul Assar and Sarah Rajper, with assistant curators Mishaim Gardezi and Zainab Amir. As the festival concluded, Lahore emerged not just as a host city, but as a living canvas where imagination, art and digital innovation converged.

“Breathing Algorithms” proved that even in a world increasingly shaped by data and algorithms, there is room for human reflection, care and creativity. The festival left the audience with a clear message: technology and art are not opposed to humanity – they can foster empathy, inspire action and shape a more sustainable, just and imaginative future.

Combining local and global perspectives, digital art and artificial intelligence, environmental awareness and cultural reflection, the fourth LDF reinforced Pakistan’s growing role in the international arena of digital culture. Lahore, through this festival, has become a place where technology is not just a tool, but a medium for connection, understanding and creative exploration.

“Breathing Algorithms” ran from 6 to 9 November 2025, inviting audiences to experience interactive, thought-provoking and socially engaged digital artworks, while provoking critical reflection on the technology, climate and ethics of innovation in contemporary society.

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