Bengaluru: An immersive art and technology festival titled The Sixth Sense is currently underway at Alembic City in Whitefield, bringing together digital art, music, technology and nature through large-scale interactive installations and workshops. Conceptualised by Swordfish, the creative minds behind the Echoes of Earth festival, the 18-day event aims to create a slower, more reflective engagement with new media art.

Curators and creators behind the festival say the idea is to bridge the perceived divide between art and technology and create a shared experiential platform for artists, technologists, coders and the public.

“Combining art and technology has always been experimental and explorative. We have created a platform where we bring together the diversity of both these elements,” said Lalindra Amarasekara, technical director, The Sixth Sense.

Focus on immersive and interactive experiences

Bengaluru’s The Sixth Sense festival features 22 large-format installations, many of them interactive and responsive, spread across the Alembic City campus — a repurposed 60-year-old factory space designed as a walkable, low-traffic arts district.

Visitors can experience digital and spatial artworks built using light, sound, sensors, data and real-time interaction. The exhibits include:

  • Large-scale digital installations
  • Spatial and sonic sound environments
  • Interactive projection works
  • Data-driven visual art
  • Participatory and experiential exhibits

According to organisers, nearly every installation interprets the broader theme of “nature’s intelligence” through a technological lens.

“One collaborative work uses bat data and converts it into a laser-based installation,” said Roshan Netalkar, founder-director of Echoes of Earth and Swordfish, explaining how environmental datasets are being transformed into artistic expression.

Festival evolved from Echoes of Earth concept

Bengaluru organiser Roshan Netalkar said the festival grew out of learnings from Echoes of Earth, a well-known music and sustainability festival that runs for only two days each year.

“Though we would spend close to a year building Echoes, its duration was only two days, unfolding in a fast-paced setting where people were unable to spend enough time with the concept notes or installations,” he said.

He added that The Sixth Sense format was created to allow longer engagement, deeper learning, and slower exploration, using technology as a medium for knowledge transfer rather than distraction.

“We wanted to slow down this process of learning, and at the same time, use technology in a positive way for knowledge transfer. That is how we came up with this format to have a larger conversation with audiences,” he said.

International collaboration and workshops

Bengaluru’s The Sixth Sense festival also includes workshops and masterclasses in collaboration with The NODE Institute from Germany, focusing on creative coding and real-time visual tools.

The sessions include training and collaborative labs in:

  • TouchDesigner
  • Experience design
  • Data visualisation
  • Lighting systems
  • AI-assisted art
  • Live visual performance

The workshops began on February 5 and run through mid-February, with specialised TouchDesigner sessions scheduled for February 12 and 13. Organisers say the labs are designed to bring together creative coders, digital artists and experience designers from different countries.

Art as a gateway to future technology

Festival technical director Lalindra Amarasekara emphasised that forward-looking technology often finds its first real expression through artistic experimentation.

“Art too has gravitated towards technology, and a lot of forward thinking with regard to technology happens through art. The festival is not only a platform that brings together artists and technologists, but is also an opportunity to build collaborations,” he said.

He stressed that the festival is designed for general audiences, not only tech specialists. “One need not know how the system works in order to appreciate it; The Sixth Sense can be enjoyed by all,” he added.

One highlighted installation, The Banyan Tree by Berlin-based artist Stephen Bontly, is a responsive digital artwork that changes based on the movement and presence of people in the room, simulating an amplified sensory connection with a living tree.

Venue designed for slow, sustainable exploration

Bengaluru venue partner Udit Amin, managing director of Alembic Global Holdings SA, said the campus layout supports the festival’s immersive goals.

“The venue has been designed as a walkable campus, which is quiet, sustainable, and the cars are out,” he said, adding that visitors are encouraged to use the metro to reach the site, which stops at the campus gate.

Organisers say each installation carries an underlying narrative that unfolds gradually, encouraging visitors to move through the exhibits at a relaxed pace and absorb the layered storytelling.

Conclusion

By merging digital media, sound, light and environmental data with artistic storytelling, The Sixth Sense festival positions technology not as a distraction but as a creative and educational medium. With international collaborations, interactive installations and public workshops, the Bengaluru event attempts to redefine how audiences engage with both art and emerging technology.