Optimism is not the belief that things will somehow work out, but rather the confidence in our ability to influence and bring about improvement. And that perhaps best describes the essence of the principle of hope, not as a passive position, but as an active force that motivates us to keep going despite adversity.

“HOPE” as the theme of this year´s Ars Electronica Festival is not a resigned statement that all we can do is hope that someone or something will solve our problems, but rather a manifestation that there are actually many reasons for hope. This is expressed in the subtitle “who will turn the tide”, which does not claim to know how the turnaround can be achieved, but rather focuses on who the driving forces behind this turnabout are.

This year there will also be a special EMAP Group Show as part of the festival. The participating artists and their projects are as follows:

• masharu - Compost as Superfood
• Marc Vilanova - Cascade
• Maria Smigielska and CompMonks - Proteus 4.1
• Bethan Hughes - Hevea Act 6: An Elastic Continuum
• Dorotea Dolinšek - Biosymbiotic Exoskeleton
• Nicolas Gourault - Unknown Label
• So Kanno, Akihiro Kato, Takemi Watanuki - Kazokutchi

Ars Electronica takes place from 04 - 08 September 2024 at Postcity in Linz, Austria.