Varavara & Mar

Varvara & Mar is an artist duo formed in 2009 by Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet Sola. Their collaborative practice explores the intersections of art, technology, and society, often responding to the profound social transformations brought about by the digital age. Through their work, they address the impact of the information era, engaging with themes such as artificial intelligence, robotics, interactivity, and public participation.

The duo’s innovative creations have been featured in numerous prestigious exhibitions and festivals worldwide. Varvara & Mar have exhibited at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York, FACT in Liverpool, Santa Mònica Arts Center in Barcelona, the Barbican and V&A Museum in London, the Onassis Cultural Centre in Athens, Ars Electronica Center in Linz, and ZKM in Karlsruhe, among many others.

The artist duo is also highly active in the academic community, presenting their research at top international conferences such as SIGGRAPH, VISAP, ISEA, Creativity & Cognition (C&C), Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI), and more. Their academic contributions focus on the intersections of art, technology, and interactivity, aligning with their artistic practice.

Dr Varvara Guljajeva (born in Tartu, Estonia) holds a PhD in art from the Estonian Academy of Arts, with a dissertation titled From Interaction to Post-Participation: The Disappearing Role of the Active Participant, which was recognised as the top-ranking abstract by Leonardo Labs in 2020. She has held professorships at prominent institutions, including the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (GZ), the Estonian Academy of Arts, and the Elisava School of Design and Engineering in Barcelona. Varvara has also been a visiting researcher at several respected institutions, such as XRL at Hong Kong City University, IAMAS in Japan, Liverpool John Moores University, the Linz University of Art and Design, and the Center for Humans & Machines at Max Planck.

Mar Canet Sola (born in Barcelona) is a PhD candidate and CUDAN research fellow at the Baltic Film, Media, and Arts School at Tallinn University. His doctoral research, titled Opening a Toolbox of Artistic Strategies using Generative AI, explores how artists incorporate deep learning technologies into their creative practices through the framework of artistic research in media art. He holds an MA from the Interface Cultures program at the University of Art and Design in Linz. He has studied art and design at ESDI in Barcelona and computer game development at the University of Central Lancashire in the UK. Mar has also been a visiting researcher at institutions such as XRL at Hong Kong City University, IAMAS in Japan, Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden, and the Center for Humans & Machines at Max Planck.

Together, Varvara & Mar continue to push the boundaries of art, technology, and societal engagement, creating artworks that challenge and inspire audiences around the globe.