FAN 2025: A celebration of digital artistry and innovation

Friday 28 November 2025 - 15:20

By: Dakir Madiha

FAN 2025: A celebration of digital artistry and innovation

FAN 2025, the Digital Arts Festival held in Benguerir and Khouribga, Morocco, has established itself as a pioneering platform for the convergence of creativity, technology, and immersive experiences. The event has brought together digital artists from across the globe to showcase their work through workshops, VR experiences, and augmented reality installations, offering audiences a deep dive into the evolving world of digital art.

Youssef Lyoussfi: merging design and technology

The festival featured Youssef Lyoussfi, a student and digital artist from 1337 Khouribga, whose workshop, “From Lerp to Bézier Curves,” explored the artistic possibilities of lines and curves. Reflecting on his journey, Lyoussfi shared how his childhood fascination with video games led him to merge design and development, creating interactive works that captivate audiences.

One of his standout pieces, “Stillness Attracts,” uses technology to engage viewers in a unique way. The installation invites participants to remain motionless as digital butterflies gather to form their silhouette. Using Unity software and a Kinect V2 sensor, Lyoussfi demonstrated how simple interactions can evoke a sense of wonder. “The butterflies,” he explained, “have two brains—they either wander or gather to create shapes.”

Yann Minh: blending cyberpunk and classical art

French-Vietnamese artist Yann Minh brought his cyberpunk-inspired reinterpretations of classical art to FAN 2025. His highlighted work, a digital rendition of Velasquez’s “Les Menines,” reimagines the iconic painting through a futuristic lens. Minh described the piece as “Aristopunk,” a term he coined to merge Velasquez’s aristocratic roots with cyberpunk sensibilities.

Minh’s artistic journey spans decades, with his first virtual work exhibited at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 1983. At FAN 2025, he continued to push boundaries, using Unity, 3D modeling, and AI to create immersive digital worlds. “Velasquez was the first artist to create conceptual games,” Minh remarked, using “Les Menines” as an example of how art can bridge the past and future.

El Mehdi Alislami: reimagining time and AI

El Mehdi Alislami captivated audiences with his exploration of time and artificial intelligence. His VR experience, “Milestones of Ibnu Battuta,” takes visitors on a virtual journey following the legendary Moroccan explorer, transporting them to historical sites as they appeared in his era.

Alislami also presented “Echoes of Intelligence,” an AI-driven installation where three machines engage in continuous conversation. Unlike traditional AI-human interactions, these AIs discuss humanity, critiquing culture and civilization in a thought-provoking dialogue. “They don’t interact with us; they interact with each other,” Alislami explained, offering audiences a glimpse into the future of AI autonomy.

FAN 2025: a hub for creative innovation

FAN 2025 has proven that digital art is more than technology, it is a fusion of experience, imagination, and reflection. By offering a platform for groundbreaking works, the festival highlights Morocco’s growing influence in the global digital art scene. As Silicon Valley drives technological innovation, FAN 2025 emerges as a hub for creativity, where artists reimagine the world one line of code, one curve, and one idea at a time.