A Multipolar Art World

What are the new conditions for contemporary art in a world that is rapidly transforming? The era of post-´89 liberalisms seems to be over and an era of artistic production comes to a close. “In previous decades, contemporary art sought to unify a world society whose aesthetics, markets, and institutions would slowly converge upon a shared set of values” (Joshua Citarella 2025). A new multi-authoritarian paradigm is emerging, within a landscape defined by AI-assisted militarization, genocides and a widespread rollback of liberal values. What are its consequences for a cultural sphere that seemed until recently to be predicated on the paradigm of a Western dominated globalization? How are notions of “public spheres” or the “public” in general changing with the dominance of digital platforms like TikTok or OpenAI? Are we in for new “vernaculars” or feudal screensavers as emerging art forms? Which emerging new artforms can be observed that react to these changes?

This focus opens with Citarella’s article, with more conversations to follow.