FUTURE I combines theory and research with artistic practice. While visitors can experience the the consequences of human intervention in nature through immersive means in two large-scale art installations, experts will debate a new charter for industrial culture in the face of rapid social and ecological changes at a kick-off conference.

FUTURE II brings together the future of society with the past of former industrial sites. Where once workers stood behind the looms, visitors interact with creative artificial intelligence. Where paper was once made from wood, artistic visions of a resource-conserving future are emerging.

Between November 2021 and March 2022, new digital-art exhibits will open almost every week and remain permanently in the 16 museums. Visitors will also be able to try out digital artistic formats for themselves on the respective opening weekends.

The highlight of FUTURE 21 is a four-week festival of media art. International and local media artists, designers, and game developers will transform the industrial museums into temporary laboratories of the future. Video projections, light installations, soundscapes, and interactive game courses take a visionary, utopian, or critical look at the future.

At each of the 16 industrial museums of the LVR and LWL, an immersive artistic work will be presented that addresses the pressing questions of today and tomorrow. The focus is on the four thematic complexes of work, energy, resources, and progress. An accompanying program of workshops, performances, and panels with artists and experts will deepen the thematic discussion and offer a playful introduction to the four focal points.