This year´s Ars Electronica Symposium features four panels around the theme of "TIMESHIFT - The World in 25 Years."
These panels will proceed along a dramatic succession from the enthusiastic to the critical to the personal to the imaginative.
In order to combine seasoned experience and fresh perspective,
each panel will consist of four senior pioneers and one young commentator. The pioneers are prominent experts who have made significant contributions in fields relating to art, technology and society. The commentators are talented young artists and researchers assigned to present a historical overview of the panel´s topic, drawing from the Ars Electronica´s vast 25-year archive of writings, images, and videos. The goal is to use the rich history of Ars Electronica to simulate dialogue abaout the future.

Symposium I - PROGRESS

The first panel, PROGRESS, is about the promise of science and technology. It is intended to express the dreams, hopes, and desires made possible by advances in computer and cognitive science, digital media, and bio and nano technologies.

Symposium II - DISRUPTION

The second panel, DISRUPTION, is about error, accident, and dissent. It is intended to reveal how the value of intent is relative and how counter-force can dominate in an imperfect world where things don´t always go as planned.

Symposium III - SPIRIT

The third panel, SPIRIT, is about beauty, passion, and inner drive. It is intended to refocus our attention from global to self and to explore such issues as wellness, pleasure, family, and mortality.

Symposium IV - TOPIA

The final panel, TOPIA, is specifically about the world in 25 years. It will present scenarios around a wide variety of topics relating to art, technology, and society. It is intended to be detailed, inventive, and audacious.