Ars Electronica 2024: HOPE – who will turn the tide

From 4 to 8 September the festival for art, technology and society will once again transform the legendary POSTCITY into a hotspot for the international media art scene.

Hope is the spark that ignites our inner fire, the catalyst that drives individual and societal development. It is intangible and yet profoundly human - and we can and must build on it to transform our world for the better. So, this year’s Ars Electronica focuses on artists, researchers, activists, and entrepreneurs from all over the world who are leading the way with creativity, empathy and courage and give us every reason to hope. Together, they will create countless exhibitions, concerts, performances, lectures, workshops, and guided tours.

Since the first day of the festival is also the 200th birthday of the Upper Austrian composer Anton Bruckner, the opening will be held in Linz’s St Mary's Cathedral, where a team of artists, organists, computer scientists and physicists will perform Bruckner's ‘Perger Präludium’, conducted by entangled photons. On Friday, as part of the Big Concert Night, the ‘Cello Octet Amsterdam’ and Nick Verstand will present a live performance that oscillates between creation and destruction and questions our future role in the earthly ecosystem.

Meanwhile, the Ars Electronica Center enables immersive experiences of digitalized cultural treasures. Thanks to a collaboration with Iconem Paris, a huge 3D model of Notre Dame Cathedral can be explored in Deep Space 8K. A collaborative project with the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza Madrid puts early Renaissance center stage and displays gigapixel images of Vittore Carpaccio's painting Young Knight in a Landscape.