Welcome to THE MESSYVERSE

Felix Meritis presents a dynamic festival and program about self-expression, diversity and identity within digital worlds. Featuring the first fully digital fashion show presented during Amsterdam Fashion Week, the festival also includes an immersive exhibition and a comprehensive program of talks and performances that allow a deeper dive into accessibility, power structures and ethical dilemmas of digital spaces.

If digital worlds could be an extension of reality, how would it shape our lives? What are the inherent power structures and historical contexts that they build upon? Is technology truly a neutral tool, or is that only part of the story? From 2 September until 6 October Felix Meritis invites visitors, artists, fashion designers, activists and experts in the field to stimulate our imagination, learn from past activism and reflect on current power dynamics and ethical considerations within digital worlds.

THE MESSYVERSE opens with a two-day festival and fashion show during Amsterdam Fashion Week called FUTURE FRONT ROW. Whilst maintaining the setting of a traditional catwalk, FUTURE FRONT ROW is a never-before-seen digital fashion show in a physical space featuring entirely virtual models and 3D garments. Running through 6 October, THE MESSYVERSE Exhibition invites you into imaginative, speculative futures for our most intimate human moments, while the ongoing program of talks and performances inspires new questions and knowledge sharing for a more inclusive virtual world.

FUTURE FRONT ROW

FUTURE FRONT ROW is a digital fashion show featuring entirely virtual models. Visitors can discover boundary pushing digital fashion designers and artists from around the world who are embracing, multiplying and celebrating new possibilities for self-expression and authenticity. The Line-up includes: DressX, the Fabricant, Augmented Weaving, Orthodoxx, Code Couture, Mutani, Av0lve, The Fabricant and Suza Voss & Harriet Blend. 2 + 3 September (2 Shows a day)

THE MESSYVERSE EXHIBITION

Felix Meritis opens the doors to its new exhibition space with an immersive and multisensory exhibition. Artworks by Serwah Attafuah, Lu Yang and Frederik Heyman explore the chaotic creative potential of digital spaces through deeply human ideas such as grief, identity and the afterlife. The rest of the line-up includes: Uni_Verse, Baast Studio, Ines Alpha, Malou Sandig, Romain Gauthier, Vincent Snijders, The Fabricant, Tomaeus en Frank Bloem. 2 September - 6 October

THE MESSYVERSE TALKS

In a universe without rules, who creates the rules? What are the inherent power structures and historical contexts that it builds upon? Is technology truly a neutral tool? What does artistic ownership mean in the metaverse?

Whereas FUTURE FRONT ROW and the Exhibition showcase the chaotic, creative potential of the metaverse, this program of talks and performances dives deeper into current ethical dilemmas and why engaging with them is urgent today. The Talks will explore topics like digital commons, gender queer identity in virtual spaces, digital mysticism, trials in the metaverse, digital colonialism and much more. 2 September - 6 October

Read more about the event here.