lab.30 — Augsburg Media Art Festival

Over Two Decades of Media Art in Augsburg

lab.30 has been organized by the Kulturhaus abraxas in Augsburg, in the Bavarian administrative region of Swabia, since 2003 and is one of the most renowned media art festivals in the German-speaking world. Over two decades, the festival has earned a reputation as a platform for interactive installations, audiovisual performances, and experimental concerts. In 2026, the event will take place from Thursday, October 29, to Sunday, November 1 — with free admission, as always.

Motto 2026: fragile future

Under the motto »fragile future«, the 2026 edition addresses the challenges, uncertainties, but also the hopes and visions of a continuously changing world. 16 installations from the international media art scene form the core of the main exhibition. Works such as »PortalVision« by Robin Forster invite visitors into the depths of the ocean, while »How's your weather?« by Michelle Raschke links everyday questions with emotions and digital elements.

Three Venues in the City

The main venue is the Kulturhaus abraxas in the Augsburg-Kriegshaber district. Concerts and performances will also take place in the Catholic church St. Thaddäus, as well as in a temporarily used location in the city center — KARO10 — featuring a festival bar and aftershow program. Experimental concerts by artists such as Amelie Duchow, Malo Moray, and Djonni Laser will open up new acoustic and visual spaces, making targeted use of the different atmospheres of the venues.

Education and Participation

lab.30 sees itself as an educational festival: artist talks, exclusive guided tours, workshops for children aged 8 and up, and open discussion formats make media art accessible. Those who want to get creative themselves can participate in the workshops and engage in conversation with the exhibiting artists. An open call ran until June 22, 2026 — the selected works were subsequently curated for the main exhibition.

Augsburg as a Media Art Location

With lab.30, Augsburg, Bavaria's third-largest city after Munich and Nuremberg, positions itself internationally alongside media art festivals such as Ars Electronica in Linz and transmediale in Berlin. The combination of a historic city backdrop, the progressive Kulturhaus abraxas, and municipal funding makes Augsburg one of the important locations for media art and digital culture in Bavaria and Germany.