Art Institutions in the Age of Existential Risks: What Is the Impact of Activism?

In “Art Institutions in the Age of Existential Risks,” a series of online events, the ZKM | Karlsruhe invites experts from the fields of art, culture, science and society to discuss the impact of today’s existential risks and global upheavals on art institutions. “What Is the Impact of Activism?“ will focus on activists’ perspectives. Guests include Luisa Neubauer from the German Friday for Future Movement, artist and activist Lucy Orta, founder of Fearless Collective artistic group Shilo Shiv Suleman, and representative of “BP or not BP?“ activist collective Bayr(y)am Mustafa Bayr(y)amali. The event is followed by a live screening of “Dear Future Children“ (2021), a film by Franz Böhm exploring young activism worldwide.

Activists are at the forefront of the struggle against the existential risks of our time. From protest movements on the streets to academic discourses on racism, colonialism, gender, and migration, activism takes many diverse forms. Is this a new Age of Reason, a defense of life confronted by existential risks? Activism challenges the status quo and the traditional structures of the public sphere, from politics and the press to cultural institutions, by creating new platforms for making things public and putting the most urgent existential questions facing humankind at the top of the agenda for public attention.

How can alternative visions for the future be re-imagined through art and activism? How do activism and art institutions influence each other? Will the art world in the future operate as an ally of activists? Will major art events such as the Documenta and the Biennale di Venezia become the new sites of activism in these times of global crises?

The ZKM opens up a “thought space“ to reflect on the future of society and art institutions from the perspective of activist practice.

Watch the event online here.