32nd International Festival of Computer Arts – MFRU 2026 / Student Awards
19. Aug 2026
The winners have been announced – here are the authors of the best student intermedia projects of MFRU 2026!
As part of the 32nd International Festival of Computer Arts (MFRU), MKC Maribor Youth Culture Centre has announced a public call for applications for student intermedia art projects for the MFRU 2026 Student Award.
In response to the open call, 23 students have applied with 26 projects.
The jury members Sara Nuša Golob Grabner, Irena Borić and Maša Žekš have decided that:
- 1st Award goes to 4L34M: ANTI-WORK SIMULATOR,
- 2nd and 3rd Awards go to Joshua Mattson: Defence Contractor Fantasy World and Lana Požlep: Opera for 14 Butterflies.
- An additional award goes to Grace Kim: Please Verify Your Humanity v1.
The winners will receive monetary prizes. The selected projects will be presented at a group exhibition as part of 32nd International Festival of Computer Arts – MFRU, which will take place in Maribor between 2nd and 11th October 2026.
The recipients of Student Awards will also have an opportunity to present their work at a solo exhibition in one of MKC Maribor Youth Culture Centre’s exhibition spaces in Maribor in 2027.
FIRST AWARD
4L34M: ANTI-WORK SIMULATOR
The jury awards the main MFRU 2026 Student Award to 4L34M for the videogame ANTI-WORK SIMULATOR.
The jury awards the main award to the project Anti-Work Simulator, which convincingly explores contemporary regimes of work, surveillance and productivity through an ingenious fusion of a videogame, a spatial installation and participatory elements. Using humour, absurdity and gamification, the work creates an experience in which the visitor gradually transitions from a seemingly mundane office routine into a Kafkaesque nightmare of constant efficiency, surveillance and meaningless repetition. What makes the project particularly noteworthy is that it does not merely offer criticism at the level of content, but embodies it through the gameplay experience itself, in which sabotage, collaboration and small gestures of resistance become the central mechanisms of interaction. The jury was impressed by the maturity of the concept, the sophisticated execution and the ability to use the language of video games to create an engaging, witty and, at the same time, highly topical reflection on precarious work and the relationships between an individual, technology and systems of control.
SECOND AND THIRD AWARDS
Joshua Mattson: Defence Contractor Fantasy World
The jury awarded the second award to the project Defence Contractor Fantasy World, which invites reflection on the increasingly close intertwining of artificial intelligence, the military industry and technological capitalism through its distinctive aesthetic, blending of genres and a highly original approach. Positioned at the intersection of a videogame, installation and speculative fiction, the work creates a grotesque, occasionally eerie world in which humour, absurdity and body horror serve as effective tools for the critique of contemporary forms of automated violence. The jury was particularly impressed by the consistency of the concept and the work’s ability to articulate highly topical issues concerning responsibility, the abstraction of violence and the normalisation of military technologies in the everyday digital environment through a seemingly niche and playful form.
Lana Požlep: Opera for 14 Butterflies
The project Opera for 14 Butterflies
convinced the jury not only because of how relevant its topic is, but above all because of its exceptionally coherent conceptual framework. The artist has transformed an administrative procedure into a complex work of art in which bureaucratic documents, a sound composition and a spatial installation all stem from the same conceptual core. By using institutional language as artistic material, the artist creates an alternative archive of disappearance and subtly raises questions of ecological loss, displacement and the boundaries of legal systems. The committee recognised the project as a compelling example of interdisciplinary practice, in which concept, medium and execution merge organically into a holistic artistic experience.
ADDITIONAL AWARD
Grace Kim: Please Verify Your Humanity v1
The project persuaded the jury with its clear conceptual framework and elegant execution, which transforms an everyday digital interface into a subtle reflection on the relationship between humans and artificial intelligence. By contrasting mechanical precision with the unpredictability of human movement, the work demonstrates that it is precisely these deviations, improvisation and apparent inefficiency that constitute the fundamental characteristics of human creativity. In a minimalist yet effective way, the project combines interactivity, generative processes and visual poetics, encouraging visitors to reflect on the algorithms that are increasingly shaping our understanding of humanity.
Congratulations to all the winners!