bentonville, AR | 22-24 September 2023 | for music art technology
bentonville, AR | September 22-24, 2023
For music art technology
a three day & night festival for music Art Technology
a three day & night festival for music Art Technology
a three day & night festival for music Art Technology
a three day & night festival for music Art Technology
a three day & night festival for music Art Technology
a three day & night festival for music Art Technology
a three day & night festival for music Art Technology
a three day & night festival for music Art Technology

the experience

2023 Venues

Two traditional stages anchor the festival alongside a series of unconventional settings, designed in collaboration with some of the most exciting visual artists and architects working today.

The Cube
One of FORMAT’s most prominent venues, The Cube returns in 2023 with its wrapped scrim designed by Kenyan raised Uman. Her bold and colorful design is home to our experimental sonic programming, presented alongside the revolutionary audio system d&b Soundscape.
Drag Me To The Disco
A barn transformed into a disco madhouse of discovery, inclusivity and play by Maurizio Cattelan's TOILETPAPER Magazine. From daily disco get-downs, world live music, vinyl funk sets, and a drag host, this will be a place to feast your eyes.
Next Door: Nova Heat
A multi-roomed full immersive installation and structure created by New York based artists Jonah Freeman & Justin Lowe. Enter the dystopian reality of this duos universe via a secret entrance. The most intimate venue onsite, it will include a mix of honky tonk jam bands and local acts. When you find this speakeasy, it will be hard to leave...
Smokey's
American learner from California. A new commission for FORMAT at Smokey’s venue, our main late night forest venue. Her playful yet powerful word and image collaging will hang over audiences in the forest. The aim is to invite viewers to engage and react to the messages and topics she puts forward.
Bizarre Bazaar
The Bizarre Bazaar will be a maze of uniquely curated retail, food, and beverage vendors. A space for discovery and curiosity, ranging from performance stands, limited edition artist collaborations, unusual workshops, quirky concept shops, strange and wonderful objects and collectibles, local vendors and pop-ups and festival merch. Our aim is also to make the Bizarre Bazaar a platform for local artisanal artists and food vendors alike.
The Hangar
The Hangar will present video art programming by Ragnar Kjartansson, Jon Rafman and Jeremy Deller.

2023 Art Experiences

We bring renowned artists from all over the globe to create unique art experiences. Learn more about the artists confirmed for this year below or check out our 2022 Art Experiences.

Guerrilla Girls
I’m not a feminist but if I was — The anonymous female artist-activist group will present a new large-scale installation that includes their iconic, interactive wall work, which exposes gender and ethnic bias and corruption in art, film, politics, and pop culture.
JR's Inside Out Project
JR's Inside Out Project
JR is a French artist who has the largest art gallery in the world by exhibiting freely in the streets. Using his own artistic practice as inspiration, JR created the Inside Out Project - a participatory art platform that helps communities worldwide make a statement by displaying large-scale black and white portraits in public spaces. The Inside Out Photobooth will be at the festival, inviting everyone to take their portrait and see it pasted in a large mural that will come to life throughout the weekend.
Kameelah Janan Rasheed
Kameelah Janan Rasheed is a learner invested in Black storytelling technologies that compel audiences to consider ways of [un]learning. Rasheed will present a new commission for FORMAT’s Smokey’s venue, transforming the main late night forest oasis with her powerful imagery and words.
Ragnar Kjartansson x The National
180 Studios presents ‘A Lot of Sorrow’ (2013-14), a video work by contemporary Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson and American rock band The National, on view in The Hangar. The band is found playing their song Sorrow repeatedly for six hours at MoMA PS1.
Jon Rafman
180 Studios presents ‘Minor Daemon’ (2022), a new film of a computer-generated fever-dream universe by Canadian artist and filmmaker Jon Rafman, on view in The Hangar.
Jeremy Deller
The Modern Institute presents two video works by British conceptual artist Jeremy Deller on display in The Hangar. ‘Everybody in the Place: An Incomplete History of Britain 1984-1992’ (2018) revisits the socio-political history of the ‘Second Summer of Love’, taking us through rare and unseen archive footage as he illustrates his telling of the cultural movement. Deller and Nick Abraham’s 2006 documentary, ‘Our Hobby is Depeche Mode’ tells a story of resolute faith and devoted fandom; a bizarre, funny, sad and often touching reflection on how people intimately embrace and appropriate pop culture in their own lives.
Danielle Hatch
Local Arkansas artist Danielle Hatch will transform and dress FORMAT’s onsite bars using colorful textiles that reference domestic interiors. In collaboration with composer Amos Cochran, Hatch will present ALL THE SOARINGS OF MY MIND BEGIN IN MY BLOOD, a performance piece that ritualizes and reconnects audiences to the physical and psychological journeys of female ancestors.
ISTANBUL'74 FLAGS FOR FUTURE
Taking inspiration from the unifying power of art, Istanbul’74 brings to FORMAT: ‘Flags for Future’ - a sustainable art project launched featuring 28 limited-edition artist flags made from upcycled plastic waste, meant as a canvas for unity, collective thought and artistic expression.
Esrawe + Cadena
Los Trompos
Design firm Esrawe + Cadena’s ‘Los Trompos’ is a seating installation that functions as both artwork and rotating platform, each sculpture acting as a gathering place for relaxation, social interaction and entertainment.
Atelier Sisu
Award winning Sydney-based Atelier Sisu is led by Peruvian sculptor and industrial designer Renzo B. Larriviere and architectural designer and artist Zara Pasfield. ‘Evanescent’ is a larger-than-life bubble artwork standing at nearly 30 feet tall, inviting viewers to walk through the structures which are iridescent in the daylight and illuminated in darkness.
Assume Vivid Astro Focus
Alias behind the collective made up of Eli Subrack and Christope Hamaide-Pierson - return to FORMAT with their adult playground of sorts - providing an interactive oasis of colors and shapes that encourages the audience towards playfulness, respite, and inclusivity.
Marinella Senatore
‘We Rise By Lifting Others, Dance First Think Later’, 2022
Returning to FORMAT’s mainfield is the eye-catching 600 foot-long light sculpture by multidisciplinary artist Marinella Senatore, ‘We Rise By Lifting Others’. Her work explores community engagement and breaking free from social constructs, whilst exploring a dialogue between history and popular culture.
Uman
One of FORMAT’s most prominent venues, The Cube returns in 2023 with its wrapped scrim designed by Kenyan raised Uman. Her bold and colorful design is home to our experimental sonic programming, presented alongside the revolutionary audio system d&b Soundscape.
TOILETPAPER MAGAZINE
A barn transformed into a disco madhouse of discovery, inclusivity and play by Maurizio Cattelan's TOILETPAPER Magazine. From daily disco get-downs, world live music, vinyl funk sets, and a drag host, this will be a place to feast your eyes.
JONAH FREEMAN & JUSTIN LOWE
A multi-roomed full immersive installation and structure created by New York based artists Jonah Freeman & Justin Lowe. Enter the dystopian reality of this duos universe via a secret entrance. The most intimate venue onsite, it will include a mix of honky tonk jam bands and local acts. When you find this speakeasy, it will be hard to leave...

2023 partners