Festival for Art, Technology and Society
September 9–13, 2026
Linz, Austria
Ecological, technological, and political upheavals have always challenged the way we see the world and ourselves. Little wonder, then, that the escalating climate crisis, the arrival of chatbots, AI agents, and humanoid robots, and the geopolitical shockwaves of the present moment are setting off the next anthropological crisis. The question of what it means to be human—and how and by whom this humanity is to be negotiated—seems more urgent than ever. “NEGOTIATING HUMANITY” is therefore the theme of Ars Electronica 2026, which takes place again in Linz, Austria, from September 9 to 13. The festival offers a wide-ranging program of exhibitions, performances, screenings, symposia, talks, workshops, and town hall meetings, staged at three central hubs in downtown Linz and a number of additional venues.
Ars Electronica in the City Center of Linz
After years at POSTCITY and three guest appearances at Johannes Kepler University Linz, the world’s largest festival for art, technology, and society is making the city center of Linz the stage for this year’s events. Three large festival hubs—OK QUARTER, DANUBE TRIANGLE, and MED CAMPUS—will be presenting the festival. Tickets for Ars Electronica 2026 are available online and, from September 9 to 13, at OK Platz and at the Ars Electronica Center.
Program Highlights 2026
Ars Electronica 2026 is not only occupying new locations; it also comes with numerous program highlights and premieres.
For the first time, the festival’s theme exhibition consists of three distinct, high-caliber exhibitions. At Lentos Kunstmuseum, award-winning projects from the Prix Ars Electronica and the European Commission’s S+T+ARTS Prize ’26 address techno-capitalist progress, current geopolitical crises, climate change, and our perception of the world. At OK QUARTER, the new FESTIVAL WALK asks how claims to truth are enforced and how reality is constructed, inviting visitors to explore eight unusual locations. And in the historic attic of Ursulinenhof, a further exhibition is dedicated to the many “more-than-human” life forms, ecological systems, and material processes that shape our world.
The Ars Electronica Center presents two new exhibitions and—as always—an extensive program in Deep Space 8K. Hello Worlds!, developed by Ars Electronica Futurelab and Toyota Motor Corporation Advanced R&D and Engineering Company, asks how intelligent systems influence us: how they change our communication, our perception, and even the way we think about the world and ourselves. A new showcase by Ars Electronica Solutions demonstrates how the team works with the pressing issues of our time and the questions that arise from them. Using concrete projects, it demonstrates how ideas first become concepts and finally installations that open up immersive experiences. Deep Space 8K, meanwhile, features numerous performances, concerts, demonstrations, and presentations centered on the focal theme Living Archives.
Around Linz’s Main Square and at MED CAMPUS, Ars Electronica once again invites 45 universities from around the world to stage this year’s festival Campus. The projects on view are the work of students and reflect the orientation of their respective institutions, many of them picking up on the festival theme.
At MED CAMPUS, the Linz Institute of Technology (LIT) at Johannes Kepler University (JKU) presents an exhibition devoted entirely to the symbiosis of art and science. Also at the JKU MED Campus, create your world invites visitors of all ages to experiment, play, and experience together.
On Linz’s Main Square, Flood the Zone with Courage stages an open infrastructure for democratic negotiation. Together with the University of Arts Linz, Attac Austria, and JKU’s Circus of Knowledge, a temporary space is created in which the capacity for conflict is not merely called for and praised but actually put into practice. A dense program of performative actions, open workshops, encounter zones, and participatory interventions awaits.
Among the most important events of Ars Electronica 2026 are the Pre-Opening Walk on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, which culminates in a birthday party marking 30 years of Ars Electronica Center; the grand Festival Opening in front of and inside St. Mary’s Cathedral on Wednesday, September 9, 2026; the Big Concert Night and the Nightline at Posthof on Friday, September 11, 2026; and the Futurelab Night at Ars Electronica Center on Saturday, September 12, 2026.
Credit: Wicked Mirror / Andreas Refsgaard, Sofie Burgos-Thorsen – Photo: Andreas Refsgaard (AI generated)
