Futureless Festival (FF) is an Art + Technology event happening in between the 10th to the 14th of August, 2022, in hybrid format (internationally through our partners) and in various locations in Stockholm, Sweden.
Why Stockholm?
Stockholm City, where this event will take place, has a complex relationship with Media Art: the 1966 Stockholm festival Visioner av Nuet (translated to Visions of the Present, whose goal was to examine the impact of Technology on human societies), became one of the first festivals of its kind worldwide. Almost half a century later, Swedish Artist Anna Lundh reconsidered this forgotten legacy by organizing the "Visions of the Now" Festival, openly referencing the previous pioneer festival of ‘66, while wondering about those old visions of the future and how they changed.
What are our visions of the future nowadays, in these times of (climate) crisis?
The Futureless Festival, from now on, FF, exerts a critical look onto that idea of the future we once had and its relation to Technology, one that has shifted drastically particularly due to climate crisis. In that line, it will reference the previously mentioned historical tradition related to the Media arts in the Nordic regions from a critical point of view yet placed in a renewed context where such arts do not seem to have a relevant space in the mainstream of Stockholm ́s Arts Scene.
Why now?
There is currently a renewed interest worldwide for the Electronic and Digital Arts due to the popularization (and associated controversy) of the NFT (Non-Fungible Tokens) Art, Artificial Intelligence, and Virtual Reality (the Metaverse). Nevertheless, we can affirm that in the Nordic Countries, especially in Sweden (where this festival will take place) art shows and presentations related exclusively to the subject have hit an all-time low, despite being extremely technology-inclined societies. In that line, the aim of FF is to reference the long tradition of Art + Tech artists, placing special emphasis in the connection with other similar festivals such as Piksel festival in Norway and Pixelache in Finland, so to strengthen the Nordic area’s role within this branch of artistic expression. Now, this year is highly important for these two Festivals, as they both celebrate their 20th anniversary. This is particularly meaningful, not only because of the legacy of these two festivals -a long-lasting impact on an international level- but also, because it exposes even more the need for similar events in Sweden.
FF’s activities can be divided into three interconnected axes, which are as follows:
1. Building a Network of diverse institutions, groups, and Festival organizations connected with Media/Digital/Electronic/Bio + Tech Arts within the Nordic region. FF will facilitate the exchange in between these diverse actors, who will have the opportunity to present their projects on public talks and meetings.
2. Presenting a series of decentralized Art shows that includes diverse artists from the Nordic regions and beyond.
3. Organizing a series of Electronic Sound Art and Art + Tech live Performances
Explore the full program.
