In the early 1990s the Center for Art and Media (ZKM) and the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design (HfG) were founded by architectural historian Heinrich Klotz as a common place for education, research and art production in order to provide a contemporary response to the electronic age. In context of both the current technological transformations and the latest generational change, the two institutions which are united under one roof are undergoing radical transformation.

As a result of the necessary reorientation in terms of content and methodology the following questions arise: What positions does the ZKM take as a house for producing and exhibiting media art in the third decade of the 21st century? How are the subjects and the audience defined, what priorities and goals are set, how is research and production aligned here? In what ways can the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung continue innovative themes and methods as a place of teaching and research, and which theories and subjects come to the fore? How can the relationship between art, design and theory be defined in the future, and in which way can the HfG set new standards in basic education as well as in scientific and artistic/scientific research? And finally, what are the prerequisites for the realization of a new type of doctoral program that combines the interdisciplinary structure of the HfG and the practice-oriented, artistic research approach of the ZKM, thus reconnecting with the pioneering original idea of both partner institutions?

In order to discuss these important programmatic questions, HfG and ZKM Karlsruhe are organizing their first joint symposium on 5 and 6 December 2024, bringing together international personalities from science and art. The aim is to actively design spaces and programmes for transformative research practices.

Further information will follow. .