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YUM! Premiere © anja koehler i
YUM!, Winner of the FEDORA Digital Prize 2025, Celebrates its World Premiere at the Bregenzer Festspiele
Details
20 August 2026
Bregenz / Austria
Winners
On 20 August 2026, YUM!, winner of the FEDORA Digital Prize 2025, led by Vienna-based Studio M.A.R.S., celebrated its world premiere at the Bregenzer Festspiele in Austria, bringing its bold fusion of music theatre, performance and extended reality to the Werkstattbühne.
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© anja koehler i
YUM! Premiere
© Anja Koehler i
YUM! Premiere
© anja koehler; Anja Koehler i
YUM! Premiere
© Anja Koehler i
YUM! Premiere
© anja koehler i
YUM! Premiere
© Anja Koehler i
YUM! Premiere
Created by composer and media artist Wen Liu, YUM! combines music theatre and Extended Reality (XR) in a satirical exploration of luxury, consumption and environmental crisis. Set around an extravagant dinner hosted by Madame D, the work transports audiences into a dystopian world where technology transforms simple food into virtual delicacies, gradually revealing a darker reality of scarcity and excess.
“YUM! takes place in a parallel universe, but it is not about some sci-fi future. It is already happening. The oceans are totally polluted, the forests are almost gone, and there is no caviar, sashimi or truffle anymore. In the restaurant, Madame D uses technology, manipulative images and advertisements to make the audience believe that they can still enjoy things that no longer exist.”
- Wen Liu
Following its world premiere, YUM! drew praise for its striking visual and musical world. kulturzeitschrift.at highlighted its strong imagery, outstanding singers and pointed central idea, while APA praised the high-calibre cast and musicians and reported an enthusiastic audience response. ARTALPSREVIEW underlined the production’s distinctive visual language and the importance of providing a platform for such artistic experimentation.
With its colourful Camp and Pop Art aesthetic, YUM! brings together live music, performance and digital technology to blur the boundaries between physical and virtual reality, inviting audiences to reflect on desire, excess and the resources we take for granted.
Congratulations to Wen Liu, Lisa Horvath, Flavia Mazzanti, Johanna Rusanen, Emmi Kauppinen, Adrian Autard, Henry Neill, Studio Dan, govar GmbH, and the entire artistic and technical team on this world premiere!
YUM! was selected as the FEDORA Digital Prize 2025 Winner, recognising its innovative approach to digital technology and live performance.
The FEDORA Digital Prize is supported by Kearney, in collaboration with the IMZ International Music + Media Centre. The FEDORA Prizes competition is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Commission.
