Festival of Future Nows 2025

31 October – 2 November 2025

‘Art’s vitality lies in how it surprises, how it risks transformation, how it confronts our perceptions. The Festival of Future Nows is here to celebrate the potential of these acts of exploration and the always present possibility that something unforeseen can take place.’

– Olafur Eliasson

The Festival of Future Nows 2025 brings together around 100 international artists – from emerging voices to established positions. Through a dense program of performances, sound works, dance, workshops, and interventions, the experimental format creates space for dialogue and reflection: What role can art play in the face of current social and ecological challenges? How can artistic ideas help to shape shared visions of the future – and open up new ways of living together?

Visitors are invited to enter into an open dialogue with artists and fellow guests. Through works that inspire participation, reflection, and shared experience, a space emerges for addressing urgent social and ecological issues, fostering collective agency, and imagining new forms of coexistence. At the heart of the festival is the exchange of ideas and an exploration of the role art can play in this process – ultimately aiming to foster cooperation and articulate visions for and of the future.

Participating artist:

Adrian Herzig, Alica Siegele, Aliou Diack, Ally Bisshop, Álvaro Urbano, Amos Blanton, Ana Lessing Menjibar, Andreas Greiner, Andrew Amondson, Anika Frank, Anne Duk Hee Jordan, Anushka Chkheidze, Arnold Dreyblatt, Atefeh Ghasemi, Nia Atvola, Bureaucracy Studies, Carole Anaïs Flammang, Clara Jo, Coy Chap, Daiki Kimoto, Dan Stockholm, Dominic Laurin Kruschwitz, Dorte Bjerre Jensen, Dry Ocean, Ece Pazarbaşi, Elaine W. Ho, Elise Eeraerts, Elizabeth McTernan, Eric Ellingsen, Etienne Kirchhoff, Fabian Knecht, Fabian Thüroff, Farhang Rafiee, Felix Kiessling, Fernanda von Trevellin, Florian Huber, Forty Five Degrees, Frank Oehring, Freya Stoermer, Gabrielle Mainguy, Giulia Ottavia Frattini, Gonzalez Haase AAS, Hannah Lansburgh, Hannah W. Wetzel, Hans-Henning Korb, Helen Zeru, Helene Nymann, Hongzhu Chen, Ivana Franke, Jan Jelinek, Jan St. Werner, Jeewi Lee, Jeremias Holliger, Jesper Dyrehauge, Joe Dumit, Jona Wolf, Jonas Wendelin, Jorge Miñano, Julian Charrière, Julius von Bismarck, Kai Litke, Karsten Olsen, Kat Heimann, Kat Válastur, Katinka Theuerkauf, Katja Aufleger, Klaas Weirauch, Kyoco Taniyama, Laleh Khabbazy, Laura McLardy, Lena Krüger, Lena Muley, Leon Eixenberger, Linn Johanna Johannsen, Linus Hüsam, Lisa Friedrichs-Dachale, Livyj Bereh, Lucas Buschfeld, Lucas Gutierrez, Lutz Henke, Macarena Ruiz-Tagle, Malihe Nemati Nikou, Malin Müller, Malte Bartsch,Maresa Anna Fiege,Markus Hoffmann, Maxim Lewandowski, Melina Julie Sieverling, Merlin Carter,Nahum, Nina Schuiki, Norgard Kröger, Olafur Eliasson, Pascale Espinosa, Pauline Doutreluingne, Phillip C. Reiner, Phivos Theodotou, Pixelated Realities, Quynh Vantu, Rafael Ibarra, Ramona Kortyka, Raul Walch, Reza Arabgari, Rica Mosco, Rike Horb, Rike Scheffler, Robert Lippok, Roberto Aparicio Ronda, Rodrigo Maltez Novaes, Rosemary Hannon, Roxana Olympia Seehof, Rudyard Schmidt, Rune Bosse, Saleh Shaweesh, Sarah Rechberger, Seiji Morimoto, Seoyeong Choi ,Simen Musæus (aeaeaeae), Sophia Pompéry, Sophie Erlund, Sound Practice Research Kollectiv (SPRK), Susanne Bosch, Temporary Landing Zones, Thieme-Williams, Tímea Anita Oravecz, Ulrike Zimmermann, Upcoming Collective, Viktoria Dergunova, Vinzenz Reinecke, Violeta Burckhardt, XXylem, Yeil Joo ,Yuichiro Tamura, Yves Mettler.

The Festival of Future Nows was initiated by the Institut für Raumexperimente (Institute for Spatial Experiments), its inaugural edition took place at Neue Nationalgalerie, prior to the building’s extensive renovation. A second edition Festival of Future Nows → ∞ 2017 followed at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. The third edition returned to its original location. Building on its founding vision, the festival presents art as a space for collective thinking, acting, and imagination—exploring how art can raise questions about the future and stimulate imagination for new ways of being.

The Festival of Future Nows 2025 is a collaboration of the Neue Nationalgalerie – Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz and the Institut für Raumexperimente e. V. on initiative of Klaus Biesenbach and Olafur Eliasson.

The realization of the festival is made possible by funds from the Hauptstadtkulturfonds.
The American Academy in Berlin is partner of the festival.

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Organised by Christina Werner, Ricarda Bergmann, Nikola Richolt, Sophie Uebach, Lisa Botti, Olafur Eliasson and Klaus Biesenbach.

Technical exhibition support: LICHTblick Bühnentechnik GmbH & Eidotech GmbH
Stage management: Esther Madubuko, Gregor Quack
Education and Outreach: Julia Freiboth, Felicitas Fritsche-Reyrink
DIE advise: Emanuele Valariano
Studio Olafur Eliasson: Ágoston Horányi, Alva Jung, Anders Hellsten Nissen, Angelika Wieland, Anja Gerstmann, Anna Engberg, Anna Kreuzträger, Ashley Mrozek, Aysegül Seyhan, Bastian Späth, Brigitta Witt, Caroline Eggel, Catriona Collins, Christine Bopp, Daniel Mock, Jan Mennicke, Lars Lubnau, Lauren Maurer, Teddy Chan, Thomas Blumtritt-Hanisch

Design & Webdesign: BASICS09 & Rasso Hilber
Copyediting and Translation: Textschiff

Communications: Markus Farr, Maribel Nicolás Cabello