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For the third time we introduce ENTERmultimediale festival, however, this time with profound changes. Even a first glance suggests the difference: the title of the new media art festival reads as short as one word: ENTER. The keyboard element used most, to enter a new line of text, today symbolises more of an action, the beginning of a process, a becoming.

However, this symbol is not necessarily positive all the way round. It can also denote destruction, both metaphorically and literally. When your Personal Computer (PC) asks: “Are you sure that you want to permanently delete the selected item(s)? “, you may double-check what you are about to delete. But sometimes, when in a hurry, you can press the button and lose all unsaved data. Your digital past can be is lost, the past which has been increasingly machine dependent ever since the `80s. And what about intercontinental ballistic missiles? Most likely they are shot via one press of the enter key on an army super-computer keyboard, with the disappearance of whole cities or even states/countries as consequence.

The ENTER festival is now both more radical and universal at the same time. Besides keeping an eye on technological developments in art and their intersections with science, the festival has become more political, sharing interest in social context as well as the history and future of humans. Still, a focus on the role of science in all these issues remains. What are the influences and their directions? Is art working for science, or science for art?

ENTER3 on the one hand introduces/presents an emerging generation of artists who are entering science labs, working and living on computer networks daily, as well as explores scientific theories and theories of artistic “avant-gardes”.

On the other hand, the festival introduces for the first time on the international level, a retrospective exhibition of Frank J. Malina, a renowned pioneer of light kinetic art, but also a rocket engineer and founder of Leonardo journal which has created one of the first communities of artists and scientists working together.

CIANT joined Leonardo, Hexagram and Pépinières européennes pour jeunes artistes in order to organise an international conference MutaMorphosis which aims to challenge arts and sciences while focusing on extreme environments.

It is a great pleasure today to see the ENTER festival evolving. It offers the audience a new kind of event which looks back in history and ahead to the future at the same moment, and which connects the artistic, research and scientific activities of more than 100 practitioners from all continents.

Pavel Smetana, October 2007


Special personal thanks: Klára Adamcová, Jaroslav Anděl, Alban Asselin, Louis Bec, Soufiane Bensabra, Patrice Bonnaffé, Annick Bureaud, Michael Calcott, Pavel Čejjka, Lucie Čermáková, Jan Černý, Jean and Collette Cherqui, Jan Fleischhans, Juan Eduardo Fleming, Jitka Hlaváčková, Fabrice Hergott and Musée d’Art Moderne de la ville de Paris, Karel Ježek, Luděk Kanda, Štěpán Kleník, Veronika Kratochvílová, Kateřina Krtilová, Fabrice Lapelletrie, Roger F. Malina, Arnaud Le Mappian, Petr Marhoul, Koïchiro Matsuura and UNESCO, Meda Mládková, National Gallery in Prague, Stephan Nobbe, Jiří Pleska, Olga Poivre d’Arvor, František Polák, René Rohan, Daniela Richterová, Hana Rudolfová, Tomáš Řehák, Andrea.Schrammel, Hedvika Šebková, Jana Šorfová, Michal Špitálník, Alice Tragerová, members of the MutaMorphosis conference committees, artists, supporters, and friends.

Credits: Pavel Smetana - Director, Denisa Kera & Pavel Sedlák - Chief curators, Louis Bec, Vít Havránek, Radka Peterová, Pavel Smetana, Petra Vargová, Mahir Mustafa Yavuz - Curators, Milan GuÅ¡tar - Restaurator of works by F.J.Malina, Jiří Thýn - Photographer of works by F.J.Malina, Jan Å ebek - Head of production, Veronika Bauerová, Aurélie Besson, Karolína Brosková, Ivor Diosi, Dan HouÅ¡tek, Stéphane Kyles, Michal Máša, Marta Procházková, Pavel Sterec, Viliam Å imko - Production team, Eduard Piňos - Media relations officer, Jakub Havránek, Dan Mayer, MatÄ›j Syxra - Graphic designers, Touchwood - www.