Galleria delle Carrozze at Milan Central Station

MEET Digital Culture Center (Viale Vittorio Veneto 2, Milano)

Once again this year, Milan Digital Week will bring the Lombard capital to life from September 30 to October 4, 2026, transforming the city into a vast stage dedicated to innovation and digital development. The theme of this year’s digital week is “La città generativa” (The Generative City): a city capable of creating new connections, opportunities, and forms of participation through digital technology and AI, without losing sight of the central role of the human element or the need to reflect on the conscious, sustainable, and inclusive use of technology.

The theme of the fifth edition of the CDSA is “The Liquid Commons” and is based on a specific premise: the ocean unites climate, life, technology, cities, and civilizations—and, ultimately, a shared future for humanity. Yet, for most of the urban public, the ocean remains distant, abstract, and almost invisible. The competition therefore aims to mobilize digital art, media architecture, urban screens, and public storytelling to transform the ocean from a remote geographical entity into a public reality that can be perceived, understood, and shared.

Drawing inspiration from the concept of “City Digital Skin,” long developed by the CDSA, the competition emphasizes the relationship between digital art, urban public space, global screen networks, international cultural cooperation, and emerging creative practices. Participants are invited to propose interdisciplinary responses to themes such as oceanography, deep-sea ecology, data perception, environmental change, non-human perspectives, machine-mediated observation, and visions of future civilization.

As in previous editions, the videos selected by the international jury will be screened on large LED screens in various European and Asian cities. Milan remains a key stop on the project’s itinerary: during Milan Digital Week, a selection of international video works will be shown on the LED walls of the Galleria delle Carrozze at Milan Central Station, and will then continue to be on display throughout the month of October on the large screen in the MEET Lounge.

From Milan, the works will then travel and be exhibited around the world: the CDSA’s global network will connect Milan to other major cities and cultural hubs in Asia and Europe, including Hangzhou and Changsha in China, Singapore, and Hamburg in Germany. This will encompass a total of 10 cities across 5 countries, reaching an audience of over 100 million people.