Critical Daily    Critical practice in graphic design

Founded 2000 in Bratislava, the NEXT Festival is an annual celebration of exploratory music and sonic art: from electronic experiments and free­form improvisation to audio­visual projects, it brings together artists who push the boundaries. The main organiser of the festival is Atrakt Art NGO, together with A4 – Space for Contemporary Culture. The 21st edition of the NEXT festival will take place online, in a virtual 3D environment.

The festival fosters inovation in the field of graphic design and the selection of information material from the beginning until the most recent festival edition presents a showcase of designers' thinking about visualization of sound (several posters work with generative patterns, similar to technical sound visualizations), socially engaged posters questioning the place and meaning of experimental avantgard music (poster by painter Erik Šille in 2006, posters curated by Barbora Šedivá in 2008).

The main philosophy of the festival platform is to provide safe space for experiment with intelligent sense of humour. NEXT Festival is the leading festival of exploratory music in Slovakia. From electronic experiments to free-form improvisation and audiovisual projects, it brings together musicians that are pushing the boundaries of music. Music flows into videos, they become patterns and details. Chmela Studio created a “dynamic logo” for 2016 edition, which can be easily placed on any medium.

Next Festival never gives up, therefore the 21th edition is taking place in virtual "stages" due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the Re-Imagine Europe Project, A4 is going to present couple of new performances and workshops during the NEXT Festival 2020. They will be live streamed at the virtual venue as a 3D online experience by The Rodina, also commissioned by A4.