Roundtable

Welcome: Ambassador Dr. Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, Head of Section V BMEIA

Participants (alphabetical order):

• Christl Baur, Head of Ars Electronica Festival
• Nela Eggenberger, Editor-in-Chief EIKON
• Gerfried Stocker, Co-CEO and Artistic Director Ars Electronica
• Moderation: Simon Mraz, Section V BMEIA

Conceived against the backdrop of the need and desire to open up perspectives for Ukrainian artists in an urgent situation, but also in the knowledge of the manifold forms of hardship faced by artists through no fault of their own for political and social reasons, “State of the Art(ist)” was launched as a new cooperation between Ars Electronica and BMEIA in September 2022 and could already be presented as a pilot project at this year’s festival as a virtual art gallery, offline exhibition and symposium.

The roundtable during VIENNA ART WEEK is intended to introduce the project and discuss the experiences already made, but also to provide an unbiased look at perspectives, fundamental questions and considerations. How can the project continue after a “Focus on Ukraine”? What can a virtual art gallery effectively achieve? Which audience, whom would one like to reach? Who could be involved? What does a virtual space have to do with architecture? – These are some of the questions that will be discussed at the roundtable.

Info about State of the Art(is): https://ars.electronica.art/stateoftheartist/en/