MUTEK 2024 – Utopia or Oblivion

Held on August 19^th, 2024, The Future Festivals Summit has launched the 10^th edition of MUTEK Forum “Utopia or oblivion” at the Société des arts technologiques (SAT). The objective of the day was to bring together festival makers, artists, and audiences to explore innovative ideas and projects for the future of festivals. PAN M 360 attended the opening conference and here is what you should know about it.

The opening conference of The Future Festivals Summit, titled “From Festival as Lab to Temporary Utopias”, started by Drew Hemment asking two simple but complex questions: “Why do we do festivals? Why do they matter?”. 

Drew Hemment is a British academic, artist, and curator known for his pioneering work in the intersection of technology, culture, and society. Hemment’s work spans across fields such as data science, AI, and design, and he is currently associated with the University of Edinburgh, where he contributes to projects like Future Festivals at the Edinburgh Futures Institute and works with the Alan Turing Institute.

During his presentation, Drew Hemment explored the evolution of festivals as platforms for innovation and social change. He began by tracing his journey from DJing in the late 80’s to founding FutureEverything in 1995, highlighting how his own practices are intricated in the research projects he is leading now, notably The New Real, a hub for AI, creative research and futures research, run as a festival. 

Drawing on his experience with the FutureEverything, Hemment discussed the ethos behind festivals, emphasizing the need for prototyping methodologies and create tools at the crossroads of festival-making, critical theory and design methods. The Festival As Lab toolkit , FutureEverything Manual or the Future Festival Field Guide are perfect examples of what can be shared.

The UK scholar then put into light six key trajectories (not predictions!) for future festivals: 

1. Lightning Rods for Weak Signals
2. Enablers of Serendipitous Discovery
3. Creators of New Senses and Forms
4. Fostering Connections and Communities Beyond the Filter Bubble 
5. Additive & Regenerative Cultural Infrastructures
6. Catalysts for Planetary Intelligence

You can find the details of those trajectories, each one accompanied by a recommendation, in a (very accessible) article wrote by Hemment at https://www.holo.mg/dossiers/future-festivals-field-guide/#68760 

Drew Hemment’s dedication to share his knowledge about interdisciplinary and socially engaged festivals highlights his belief in their essential role in shaping the future. However, to ensure their sustainability, it will require to face infrastructural challenges through collective effort, care, and determination.

Photo Credit: Maryse Boyce