Albert Barqué, researcher at La Salle-URL, has received the 2025 ‘El Ojo Crítico’ Award in the category of Digital Innovation in the Cultural Field, an honour granted by Radio Nacional de España (RNE) in the framework of the 36th edition of these awards. The jury recognised Albert Barqué for Synapticon, a project that explores the convergence of art, science and technology using neuroengineering and brain-computer interfaces applied to real-time musical and audiovisual creation.
The award marks the launch of the new Digital Innovation in the Cultural Field category, through which RNE aims to recognise projects and creators redefining the relationship between technology, creativity and contemporary culture. The award ceremony took place on Thursday, 14 May 2026, at Auditorium 400 of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, during a gala organised by Corporación Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) and RNE that brought together some of the leading emerging figures in the Spanish cultural scene.
Research, art and creative technologies
“This is a recognition of everyone working at the intersection of art, science and technology, and of those who continue to defend the idea that culture is not an ornament to progress, but the compass that can give it meaning and a certain existential purpose,” Barqué said after receiving the award, also acknowledging all the work being carried out “at the IASlab of La Salle Campus Barcelona.” His career lies at the intersection of artificial intelligence, cognitive sciences and artistic creation, exploring how emerging technologies transform creative processes, perception and aesthetic experience. In addition to being a researcher, Albert Barqué is coordinator of the Master’s Degree in Digital Arts and Creative Technologies at La Salle-URL and founder of the Albert.DATA project, his artistic-synthetic alter ego.
Holding a PhD in Cognitive Science from City, University of London, and having completed research stays at Harvard University and the University of Oxford, Barqué focuses his artistic research on interactions between humans and algorithms during creative processes, as well as on the transformation of artistic practices in digital and virtual environments. His work and research have been showcased at international festivals and institutions such as Sónar+D, Ars Electronica, ZKM and ISEA International, and he has recently received distinctions including the Re:Humanism and Romaeuropa Digitalive awards, among others.
El Ojo Crítico, more than three decades supporting cultural talent
In the official announcement of the award, RNE highlighted that Synapticon “expands the boundaries of digital creation and redefines the relationship between mind, machine and art”, also underlining Barqué’s ability to anticipate the technological and cultural trends shaping the present and future of contemporary creation.
For more than three decades, the ‘El Ojo Crítico’ Awards have recognised young talents shaping the present and future of culture in Spain across disciplines such as narrative, poetry, cinema, visual arts, music and theatre. Promoted by RNE, the cultural programme El Ojo Crítico began in 1983 and has become one of Spain’s leading platforms for cultural dissemination and support for new generations of creators.
