Reflections on the Art World, Its Future(s), and Potentialities

The art world is a habitat for artists and people involved in artistic production. It is both imagined and real, and always requires further reimagination. This talk will explore how to reimagine the art world for today and tomorrow as a space of greater solidarity and fairness, and as a sphere intertwined with other realms of human activity. The existing art world has its own set of rules that are resistant to change, but not set in stone. They depend on the internal dynamics of the art world and are related to social processes in other “worlds”. Reimagining the art world includes reflecting on its existing values, norms, institutions, organisational structures and cultures, various career paths, and relations to history and the future. In conversation with Natalija Majsova, assistant professor and researcher at the University of Ljubljana, we will reflect on the shape of the existing art world and pose certain questions about its future and ways of reshaping it.

Natalija Majsova is an assistant professor and research associate at the Department of Cultural Studies of the University of Ljubljana and an occasional film critic and essayist. Her research interests include the sociology of art and culture, memory studies, science fiction, (post)Soviet film, and space age aesthetics. Her monograph Soviet Science Fiction Cinema and the Space Age: Memorable Futures was published by Lexington Books in 2021.

Davor Mišković is a cultural worker from Rijeka. He is the director of the cultural organization Drugo more. Most of his work is related to programming, research and fundraising at Drugo more. He has also engaged in advocacy for the independent cultural scene as well as the creation of policy documents and cultural strategies for national and local authorities.