Theatre Arts Media Festival
ITA
LIFE 2026

Milan, April 30th >May 21st 2026
Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan

a project by ZONA K

LIFE 2026

30/04 > 21/05 2026
Fabbrica del Vapore
Milano

a project by
ZONA K

Milan, April 30th >May 21st 2026
Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan

Milan, April 30th >May 21st 2026
Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan

April 30th >May 21st 2026

Fabbrica del Vapore, Milano

Thanks!

Locked in our echo-chambers, bombarded by a relentless stream of news that leaves no space or time for reflection, we move inside a reality that fights with itself. The information stumbles, social network amplify, in-depth analysis becomes a domain of the few, the truth hides itself in winding paths and the comparison with the other becomes increasingly heated.

Victims of disinformation and fake news, we find relief in those who can reassure us that we are on the right side. Emotions become more influent than facts in the determination of our positions and our interactions. Our cognitive system tends to select and accept only the information that fit with our view of the world, conserving energy according to an economic mechanism of self-preservation. Experts refer to this as Confirmation Bias.

In the contrast between us and them, even the entire concept of democratization debate disappears, transformed into an arena of almost tribally-like conflict. How can we coexist with those who think in a diametrically opposed views? How can we live alongside those who embody beliefs that are irreconcilable with ours?

In this rather unsettling scenario, LIFE offers its perspective on the contemporary reality through original, ambiguous, irreverent and uncomfortable narratives. The stage becomes a laboratory to explore these fractures that cross society, politics, our most intimate relationships, our bodies and our desires. Art, when directly compared with information, undermines convictions and reappropriates the codes of entertainment, which are often at the mercy of the worst media performances.
Polarisation ceases to be an abstract concept and becomes a living, visceral, emotional experience. Theatre can do what the algorithm cannot: create a space of shared presence, where dialogue is not mediated by a screen but takes place here and now, in the real encounter between people.


A festival that moves itself between reality and imagination, facts and fiction, giving art the power to be a critical device and the possibility of being a space for resistance, participation and questioning.

Program

April 30th – May 1st

Urban spaces

h. 18:30

STRIJBOS & VAN RIJSWIJK (NL)
Signal in Milano

Itinerant outdoor music performance

Free admission

May 3rd

Fabbrica del Vapore

h. 17:30

Spazio Noce
DIALOGO I – Il due, il molteplice

Panel

Free admission

May 3rd – 4th

Fabbrica del Vapore

h. 20:00

STUDIO JULIAN HETZEL (DE/NL)
THREE TIMES LEFT IS RIGHT

Performance

National premiere

May 3rd – 11th

Fabbrica del Vapore

Mon. – Fri. ore 17:00 > 21:00
Sat. Sun. h. 15:00 > 21:00

Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera
Shereen Abedalkareem (PSE) The Face of the City

Multimedia installation

Free admission

May 3rd > 17th

Fabbrica del Vapore

Mon. – Fri. h. 17:00 > 21:00
Sat. – Sun. h. 15:00 > 21:00

PIER GIORGIO DE PINTO (IT/CH)
Family Portraits of VNP – Very Normal People

Multimedia installation

Free admission

May 3rd – 17th

Fabbrica del Vapore

Mon. – Fri. h. 17:00 > 21:00
Sat. – Sun. h. 15:00 > 21:00

PROSPEKT PALESTINE PROJECT
ACTIVESTILLS Documenting life, death and resistence in Palestine

Photography exhibition

Free admission

May 3rd – 17th

Fabbrica del Vapore

Mon. – Fri. h. 17:00 > 21:00
Sat. – Sun. h. 15:00 > 21:00

CHONGYAN LIU (CHN)
La tua e la mia esistenza e l’esistenza del mondo / Dein und mein dasein und das dasein der welt / 言外之意

Immersive sound and video installation

Free admission

May 4th

Fabbrica del Vapore

h. 18.30

POLARISED TIMES (TEMPI POLARIZZATI)

Panel

Free admission

May 5th – 6th

Fabbrica del Vapore

Tue. 5, ore 21:00
Wed. 6, ore 19:30

ELINA KULIKOVA e DIMA EFREMOV (FR/CH/Ex-RU)
Trilogie de la guerre / Un champ brûlé

Performance

National premiere

May 6th – 7th

Fabbrica del Vapore

h. 21:00

SPIME.IM (IT)
Grey line

Audio-video performance

May 6th > 8th

Fabbrica del Vapore

17:00 > 21:00

NABA, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti
In the Space Between

Multimedia installation

Free admission

May 7th

Fabbrica del Vapore

h. 10:30 > 12:00

Noemi Satta, TrovaFestival, Ecate Cultura, scip (IT)
BREAKFAST (COLAZIONE)

Panel

Free admission

May 7th

Fabbrica del Vapore

h.19:00

Joan Subirats (ES)
DEMOCRACY IN THE ERA OF ACCELLERATION. NEW SPACES FOR THE “US”

Lectio magistralis

Free admission

May 8th

Institut français Milan

h.18:00 > 20:00

Institut français Milano
TEN YEARS OF FRENCH POLITICS IN FIVE WORDS

Panel

Free admission

May 8th

Fabbrica del Vapore

h. 22:00

NESA AZADIKHAH (IR)
DJ set

Dj set

May 8th – 9th

Fri., h. 21:00 @ Fabbrica del Vapore
Sat. 9, h. 19:30 @ BASE Milano

Cie JIL Z/MEHDI DAHKAN (MA/FR)
Kms of resistance

Ballet performance

National premiere

May 9th

Fabbrica del Vapore

h. 10:00 > 17:30

Associazione Culturale Ateatro ETS (IT)
The good practices of partecipation – Le buone pratiche della partecipazione

Panel

Free admission

May 9th – 10th

Officina Badoni - Lecco

May 9th, h. 10:00 > 13:00
May 10th, h. 14:30 > 17:30

FUORITRACCIA
Workshop of Mehdi Dahkan (MA/FR)

Workshop

Free admission

May 9th – 10th

Fabbrica del Vapore

h.19:30

ÉMILIE ROUSSET & LOUISE HÉMON (FR)
Ritual 4: le grand debat

Performance

National premiere

May 10th

Fabbrica del Vapore

h. 15:30 > 18:30

A project by ZONA K
LIFE TABLE TALKS Volume I – Nuovo ordine mondiale
Free admission

May 11th – 12th

Fabbrica del Vapore

h.19:30

SOPHIE ANNA VEELENTURF / BERLIN (BE)
Swiping right

Performance

National premiere

May 11th – 17th

Fabbrica del Vapore

h. 17:00

JULI SANDO (CH)
On My Silver Skin

Multimedia installation

Free admission

May 12th – 13th

Fabbrica del Vapore

Tue. 12 h. 21:00
Wed. 13 h. 19:30

ONTROEREND GOED / NTGent (BE)
Summit Milano

Partecipatory performance

National premiere

May 14th

Fabbrica del Vapore

h. 21:00

FRANCESCA MANNOCCHI e RODRIGO D'ERASMO (IT)
Crescere, la guerra

Performance

Friday 15th

Fabbrica del Vapore

h. 15:00 > 18:00

cheFare (IT)
Prendere parte

Panel

Free admission

May 15th

Fabbrica del Vapore

h. 19:00

DIG FESTIVAL
Selected Works

FilmPanel

May 16th – 17th

Fabbrica del Vapore

Sat. 16, h. 21:00
Sun. 17, h. 19:30

laGeste | Stereo48 (BE/PSE)
Badke(remix)

Ballet performance

National premiere

May 17th

Fabbrica del Vapore

h. 17:30

Spazio Noce
DIALOGO II – Altro e Oltre

Panel

Free admission

May 20th – 21st

ZONA K

h.19:30

CORPORA (IT)
Tradere

Performance

National premiere

Program

Accessibilità
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