Cyberia | New Media Playground, launched by TIFA Working Studios, Pune in 2019, is a festival that explores and celebrates the potential of new media technologies. It poses questions “about the basic conditions of digital perception today and how we construct our own conception of reality of them”, as “immersive technologies increasingly replace analog surroundings with virtual data rooms, therefore radically changing the way that we interact socially, work, play and how we organise our free time”.
The festival aims to display the impact of technology through art and culture. Each edition, which features talks, exhibitions, performances and workshops, is centred on a theme. The 2019 instalment of Cyberia was based around ‘Play’, and the 2021 round on ‘Game Space’. The festival was not held in 2020. The focus of the 2022 edition of the festival was ‘Immersion’.
AI artists Harshit Agrawal and Gene Kogan, visual effects creator Sylvan Dieckmann, and speakers from architecture studios Bureau Spectacular and iheartblob, design studios Space Popular and You + Pea, and video game development studio Oleomingu have been part of the festival so far.
Check out more visual arts festivals here.
How to Reach Pune
1. By Air: Pune is well connected through domestic airlines with the entire country. Lohegaon Airport or Pune Airport is an international airport, located 15 km away from Pune city centre. Visitors can avail of taxi and local bus services from outside the airport to reach their destination.
2. By Rail: Pune Junction Railway Station connects the city with all the prime Indian destinations. There are several mail/express trains and superfast trains linking the city to various Indian destinations in the south, north and west. Some of the prominent trains operating to and from Mumbai are the Deccan Queen and Shatabdi Express, which take around three-and-a-half hours to reach Pune.
3. By Road: Pune enjoys excellent connectivity with neighbouring cities and towns through a well-maintained network of roads. Mumbai (140 km), Ahmadnagar (121 km), Aurangabad (215 km) and Bijapur (275 km) all are well linked to Pune by a number of states and roadways buses. Those driving from Mumbai need to take Mumbai-Pune Expressway route, which takes barely two to three hours to cover a distance of about 150 km.
Source: pune.gov.in



1. Sandals, flip flops or sneakers or boots (but make sure they are worn in).
2. A sturdy water bottle, if the festival has refillable water stations.
3. COVID packs: Hand sanitiser, extra masks and a copy of your vaccination certificate are things you should keep handy.



