Embracing the legacy of the three MetaForum conferences (1994-96), MFX continues to highlight the urgent issues of the times with a reflection on contemporary crisis surfing. The theme of PermaCrises examines the persistent breakdown of our political, societal and cultural systems, capturing the extremity of this situation through its continuality and pervasiveness.

The unique political climate of East-Central Europe, situated in a semi-periphery, generates a perspective that often feels overlooked and stagnant. In the nineties, Hungary provided a useful lens with which to view emerging social, political and technical realities – almost in slow motion – as they came into being. In keeping with this, this event seeks dust of that lens with a view that underscores the regional context, fostering dialogues about the cultural dynamics of the immediate environment, influenced by and influencing global tendencies. While some speak of a ‘stack of crises’, others use terms such as polycrisis and metacrisis. Permacrisis emphasizes time: a neverending end. It questions how to confront crises such as the hot wars in Ukraine or Gaza, or the warm wars across the global south, the rise of right-wing populism worldwide, the impending environmental catastrophe, and the growing social disparities globally. None of these crises can be separated from the current ascent of technocracy or the exploitative nature of digital capitalism.

In October 1994, the inaugural MetaForum significantly impacted media art, activism and discourse within Hungary, across East-Central Europe and points further West. Organized by the Media Research Foundation in cooperation with the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest, it was conceived of and realized by Geert Lovink, Diana McCarty, and János Sugár. This series of three yearly conferences transformed the scope of media art events and gained a special notoriety. It sparked vital discussions and collaborations, blending media criticism, tactical media, and cultural exchanges between East and West.  As the 30th anniversary draws near, we are excited to announce MetaForumX, set for October 2024. This edition promises to tackle the critical issues of our era, focusing on the deep influence of digital technology on art, culture, and societal frameworks.

Over two days, MetaForumX will merge presentation formats and topics featuring younger voices that are engaged with current issues and reconnecting with original participants from the series with in-depth lectures, discussions and screenings. The urgent concerns of young people bridging generational knowledge and fostering ongoing dialogue for a sustainable and inclusive future.

The language of the conference is English.

Free entrance

Flóra Barkóczi, Geert Lovink, Áron Lődi, Diana McCarty, Zsolt Miklósvölgyi, János Sugár

Dušan Barok, Ágnes Básthy, András Cséfalvay, Mijke van der Drift, Constant Dullaart, Sepp Eckenhaussen, Charlotte Eifler, Boldizsár Hordós, Sanneke Huisman, Szabolcs Kisspál, Róna Kopeczky, Juli Laczkó, David Muñoz Alcántara, Szilvi Német, Tjaša Pogačar, Oleksiy Radynski, Vanda Sárai, Sanja Sekelj

Registration

Welcome and Introduction by Flóra Barkóczi

Session 1: Sources of the Permanent Crises (presentations + discussion) moderated by János Sugár

- Sanja Sekelj: Reconsidering the Crisis and the Art System: Structures and Narratives of and about CEE Cultural Actors in the 1990s and Early 2000s from a CEE Perspective

- Dušan Barok: Artist Organising and Para-Institutional Practices in the Semiperiphery

- Ágnes Básthy: Crisis of What? – Taking a Suspicious Walk around our Fashionable Notions

Lunch Break at Trafó’s café (Trafik)

Session 2: From the Representation of Crises to the Crisis of Representation (presentations + discussion) moderated by Geert Lovink

- Vanda Sárai: Virtual Bodies, Virtual Threats? On Online Violence and Real-Life Anxieties

- Szilvi Német: Military Influencers in Peace Camp Hungary™. LARPing the War – But Standing Out of It

- Constant Dullaart: Open-Sourced Iconoclasm

- Charlotte Eifler: Utopia Feeds Machines – On Alternate Worldings 

Coffee Break

Session 3: Technopolitics of Planetary Computation and Beyond (presentations + discussion) moderated by Zsolt Miklósvölgyi

- Boldizsár Hordós: Naked Logic: Black Boxes and Eternal Computation

- András Cséfalvay: Re-Imagined Space Exploration – Evolutionary History of the Call to Fly, Rise Above. Geopolitics of Extinction Angst and New Cosmologies

- Juli Laczkó: All Computers are Broken. Rethinking the Technosphere Along the Lines of Repair and Maintenance Work

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Screening and discussion + (online) Q&A with Oleksiy Radynski

- Where Russia Ends, 25 mins (dir. Oleksiy Radynski)

Trailer 

Partners: Trafó Gallery, Hungarian University of Fine Arts - Intermedia Department, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Hungary

More information: metaforumx@proton.me