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.