kanvas, a new creative hub revolutionising art and design perspectives with state-of-the-art digital technologies, transforms artworks by 12-year-old artist Karolina Sávolt into an immersive show titled “Karolina’s Universe.” Running until 31 October 2022, at the newly-opened gallery in Al Khayat Art Avenue, Al Quoz Industrial 1, the newest Cultural District of Dubai, the conceptual video art exhibition features works depicting a young girl’s imagined world of her love for beauty, nature, and animals.

“Karolina’s Universe” is a 20-minute immersive projection experience that will allow visitors to step into the imaginary living room, where the young artist’s paintings were created. The show features a virtual walkthrough of her art studio and an escape to an imagined fantasy world depicted in her oil paintings. The eight individual artworks that will come to life reflect the blossoming artist’s signature style, which includes feminine characters, fairy-tale-like animals, geometric patterns, and vibrant colours. The show narrates a tale inspired by the art and is accompanied by a musical score by the world-renowned contemporary pianist Balazs Havasi.

One of the youngest painters of our time, Karolina Sávolt, was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 2010. She said, “I believe it is crucial to emphasize environmental and animal conservation through my art from a young age, which is why these motifs frequently appear in my works. This collaboration with kanvas allowed us to recreate my work and present them in a different form. Video projection is a fantastic medium for showcasing my artwork to today’s tech-obsessed youth and providing older viewers with a window into the fantasy life of a young adult like me.”

kanvas is an innovative hub that combines art and cutting-edge audio-visual technology, exploring a multi-sensory dimension that adds to Dubai’s thriving art scene. It is a multifunctional gallery and incubator presenting a wide range of artistic mediums, including traditional and digital artworks, NFTs, immersive and generative art, video mapping, and interactive and experiential designs.

Balint Tordai from kanvas said: “Our goal is to make digitally-created art as close to the real version as possible. We’re dedicated to helping the creative community develop ingenious strategies that immerse people in a variety of sensory experiences.”

kanvas runs multi-disciplinary art and event experiences throughout the year. A couple of events in the pipeline include “Art in Light” running in October. It is a children’s workshop designed to turn an overhead projector, an outdated piece of technology that has been stashed away and forgotten, into an instrument of discovery and imagination. Starting in November, “Lighthouse in Dubai,” curated by world-renowned 3D, video mapping, and light artist Laszlo Zsolt Bordos, will showcase the work of exceptional visual and light artists, whose pieces represent change and changeability. The installations include a fusion of digital and analog components, reflecting surfaces made of tangible materials, and the play of light on these elements.