Family Days and Vacation Program at the Ars Electronica Center

• Press release as PDF
• More information about the Family Days & the Vacation Program
• Images via Flickr

(Linz, December 11, 2023) The pre- and post-Christmas time is used for research and discovery at the Museum of the Future. Two special programs invite visitors to experiment in the laboratory, in the sound studio or at the games table and to look at the world from ever new angles.

Family Days for the curious: 16-17.12.2023

The Family Days will take place next weekend (16-17.12.2023) under the title “Winterwunderzauber”: Starting at 11 a.m. on both days, ten selected daily highlights are on the agenda for a ticket price of 12 or 10 euros per person. On the Family Tour through the museum, teams will consider how technological developments shape our daily lives, in Deep Space 8K they will travel indoors to the Mont Blanc massif, while the youngest visitors will be fascinated by playing with colors and light in the children’s research laboratory.

Workshops during the school vacations: 27./29.12.2023 and 3./5.1.2024

After the holidays, on 27 December, the vacation program starts: Over four days, the youngest visitors between the ages of eight and eleven will be offered two workshops that turn learning about the planetary system into an adventure and everyday objects into musical instruments. The price per workshop booking is seven euros.

The registration period ends three days before each workshop. Reservations can be made by calling 0732.7272.0 or via center@ars.electronica.art.

A selection from the Family Days program

Bridge 2040 | Teams of 2-4 from 8 years

Saturday, December 16, 2023, 11:00 – 13:00

Time travel to the year 2040: Bridge 2040 challenges two to four participants to use question cards to invent a fictional story set twenty years in the future. In 20-minute slots, the players develop a shared vision of the future. The more diverse the age groups involved, the more lively the discussions.

Live Performance: Life Ink 2.0

Saturday, December 16, 2023, 14:30 – 15:00 & Sunday, December 17, 2023, 14:30 – 15:00

Life Ink 2.0 is a project that visualizes how creativity arises in our bodies. This is made possible by brain-computer-interfaces (BCI) that record brain waves and make them visible as a data set. A live drum performance can be expected at the Family Days, in which the concentration and creativity of a musician becomes an experience on the screen via live data visualization.

Deep Space Family: Winterwunderzeit

Saturday, December 16, 2023, 12:30 – 13:00 & 15:30 – 16:00 & Sunday, December 17, 2023, 12:30 – 13:00 & 15:30 – 16:00

A skiing vacation in the middle of Linz: The Deep Space presentation “Winterwunderzeit” takes you to the mountains, snow-covered landscapes and giant fireworks that enchant visitors with their colors.

The full program is available here.

Impressions of the school vacation program

Vacation program: Ding Dong | for 9- to 11-year-olds

Wednesday, December 27, 2023, 13:30 – 16:00 & Friday, December 29, 2023, 13:30 – 16:00

The Open Soundstudio explores experimental ways of producing music. The participants ask themselves: What sounds are created when everyday objects are turned into instruments – and how can they be recorded? Guided by info trainers, the playful approach to sound design leads to exciting new songs – composed and realized by the 9-11-year-old workshop visitors.

Vacation program: Voll extrem, unser Sonnensystem | for 8- to 10-year-olds

Wednesday, January 3, 2024, 10:00 – 13:00 & Friday, January 5, 2024, 10:00 – 13:00

The solar system consists of eight major celestial bodies, all of which have their own special features –  mega storms on Mars and acid rain on Venus are just two of them. Young astronomers from the age of eight are encouraged to explore the diversity in space in the workshop “Voll extrem, unser Sonnensystem”.