XV Edition Video Sound Art Festival

From 28 to 30 November 2025, Video Sound Art Festival returns with its 15th edition, titled Never Ground: an important milestone marking fifteen years of activity in the production and promotion of contemporary art.

This year, the Festival once again reaffirms its mission to explore the relationship between contemporary art and exhibition spaces located outside traditional circuits, choosing a new venue in the city of Milan: the Magazzini Raccordati, in the tunnels of Central Station.

The location is deeply connected to the theme of the 15th edition: the underground understood as both a physical place and a symbolic threshold—a metaphor for the voices that throughout history have been submerged by structures of power, a gateway to initiatory descents, a place of metamorphosis.

^{Natália Trejbalová, Never Ground, Full HD video, color, sound, 17 min., 2025. Courtesy of the artist. Produced thanks to the support of the Italian Council (2024).}

The Festival takes its title from Natália Trejbalová’s new work, Never Ground, produced by Video Sound Art and created with the support of the Italian Council programme promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture. The work will become part of the collection of Museion (Bolzano).
Like a sounding board, the Festival amplifies and deepens its theoretical implications, unfolding them through various thematic expansions. Recent scientific research shows how life can adapt to extreme conditions, prompting us to reconsider the very limits of existence. Underground ecosystems, resilient bacteria, forms of life that challenge our understanding: exploring the depths of the Earth also means opening up to the possibility of new biological models, perhaps even clues to other forms of life in the universe.

In dialogue with Natália Trejbalová, the Festival will present works by Adele Dipasquale, Nicoletta Grillo, and Andrea Mauti.

Free admission upon registration.
To access the exhibition and the talks, select one of the available time slots. Registration for the talks includes access to the exhibition, and vice versa.
Cultural mediation available every hour.

^{Adele Dipasquale, Spirits Talks #1 (video still), 2022, super 16mm film scanned in 2K, 1’39’’ loop}

Public Program

The Public Program of the Festival’s 15th edition, curated by Stella Succi, offers a schedule of meetings, talks, and presentations open to the public—a space for dialogue and speculative experimentation, exploring connections between art, philosophy, and science in order to expand and share the research processes underlying the projects on display.

On Saturday, 29 November, three events will take place in succession. The first will bring together philosopher Paolo Pecere, curator Barbara Casavecchia, and artist Luca Trevisani for a conversation on the relationship between the arts and the underground over time, from prehistoric forms of expression to contemporary practices and imaginaries.
The second talk will involve speleologist Francesco Sauro, microbiologist Martina Cappelletti, and artist Natália Trejbalová. Starting from scientific research and from the artistic and editorial project Never Ground (published and distributed by MOUSSE), the discussion will address the underground as a crossroads between the terrestrial and the extraterrestrial, between deep time and the future.
The program concludes with a performative reading featuring contributions by Altalena, Annamaria Ajmone, Sandra Cane, Ivan Carozzi, Attila Faravelli, Frankenstein Magazine, Medusa, and Murmur—an interweaving of voices and sounds evoking the many forms of depth.

Presentation of the winning project of the 2025 Open Call

Dialogues from the Underground is the title of the Open Call launched by Video Sound Art ahead of the Festival’s 15th edition, curated by Francesca Colasante in collaboration with Pollinaria and TAB | Take Away Bibliographies.
In line with the Festival’s themes, the call invited artists, creatives, and researchers to take part in a residency dedicated to exploring the underground as both a symbolic and a physical space.

The winning project, TUNING FOR RELATIONSHIPS. Practices of Somatic Speleology by Sofia Salvatori, explores the body’s perceptive potential in relation to hypogeal environments through exercises of listening and tuning into the depths of the ground. On Friday, 28 November, during the Festival opening, Sofia Salvatori will share the outcomes of the project in conversation with Francesca Colasante, curator of the open call, and Rita Duina, who will present the new TAB | Take Away Bibliographies fanzine, together with Letizia Scarpello for Pollinaria.

The publication, conceived as an open narrative, interweaves images, notes, and theoretical references, becoming an extension and trace of the collective research process. On the mornings of Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 November, Sofia Salvatori will also lead a workshop in which participants will be invited to “descend” with their bodies—an experience that, starting from an eco-somatic practice, recalls speleological exploration: a movement of listening, softening, and relinquishing verticality to perceive space in an unprecedented way.

XV Edition Video Sound Art Festival
Never Ground
28 – 30 November 2025

Opening hours:
Friday 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Saturday 11:00 AM – 12:00 AM
Sunday 11:00 AM – 10:00 PM

Location:
Tunnel of Stazione Milano Centrale
Magazzini Raccordati, Milan
Via G. B. Sammartini, 38

Free admission with registration.
To access the exhibition and the talks, please select an available time slot. Registration for the talks includes access to the exhibition, and vice versa.
Cultural mediation is available every hour.

The project is supported by the
Italian Council program (2024)
promoted by the
Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture.

With the support of:
Municipality of Milan

Organization of Regional Importance
Lombardy Region

Artistic Direction
Laura Lamonea

Public program curated by
Stella Succi

Open Call curated by
Francesca Colasante 

Education
Thomas Ba, Laura Lamonea

Production
Lino Palena

Press Office 
Sara Zolla

Communication and Development
Francesca Mainardi, Federica Torgano 

Visual Identity
Gloria Favaro