Creating the Future. A Brief History of Ars Electronica. 1979 - 2019

In 1979, long before anyone started speaking about a “digital revolution,” in the unlikely setting of the small industrial town of Linz in Upper Austria, close to the Iron Curtain, three men—the director of a television station, a musician, and a scientist, who also wrote science fiction—launched a visionary festival for art, technology and society, giving it the Latin name “Ars Electronica.” Forty years on, Ars Electronica comprises the annual Festival with more than 100,000 visitors, the Prix Ars Electronica as a prestigious international award, the Ars Electronica Center as a Museum and School of the Future with 6,500 square meters of exhibition space, and the Ars Electronica Futurelab and Solutions—independent research and development facilities working in a global network of partnerships. “Creating the Future” follows the history of Ars Electronica from the pioneering days of its inception through the turbulent times at the advent of the digital revolution up to the challenges facing an internationally active, fast growing organization with the imperative to constantly reinvent itself. “A Brief History of Ars Electronica” tells the story of how technologies impact on societies and on all of our lives in ever new and challenging ways, how the collaboration of art and science can result in remarkable innovation, and how Ars Electronica is dedicated to preparing us for the future. The history of Ars Electronica is the inside story of a unique organization and of the incredibly creative and immensely curious teams of artists, scientists, technologists, educators, and managers behind it.

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		Creating the Future. A Brief History of Ars Electronica 1979 - 2019