[spectre] Fwd: program of MetaForumX, Budapest, Oct 24-26, 2024

[Andreas Broeckmann]

-------- Weitergeleitete Nachricht --------
Betreff: <nettime> program of MetaForumX, Budapest, Oct 24-26, 2024
Datum: Thu, 3 Oct 2024 08:18:27 +0200
Von: Geert Lovink via nettime-l <nettime-l at lists.nettime.org>
Kopie (CC): Geert Lovink <geert at networkcultures.org>

Embracing the legacy of the three MetaForum conferences (1994-96), MFX 
continues to highlight the urgent issues of the times with a reflection 
on contemporary crisis surfing. The theme of PermaCrises examines the 
persistent breakdown of our political, societal and cultural systems, 
capturing the extremity of this situation through its continuality and 
pervasiveness.

The unique political climate of East-Central Europe, situated in a 
semi-periphery, generates a perspective that often feels overlooked and 
stagnant. In the nineties, Hungary provided a useful lens with which to 
view emerging social, political and technical realities – almost in slow 
motion – as they came into being. In keeping with this, this event seeks 
dust of that lens with a view that underscores the regional context, 
fostering dialogues about the cultural dynamics of the immediate 
environment, influenced by and influencing global tendencies. While some 
speak of a ‘stack of crises’, others use terms such as polycrisis and 
metacrisis. Permacrisis emphasizes time: a neverending end. It questions 
how to confront crises such as the hot wars in Ukraine or Gaza, or the 
warm wars across the global south, the rise of right-wing populism 
worldwide, the impending environmental catastrophe, and the growing 
social disparities globally. None of these crises can be separated from 
the current ascent of technocracy or the exploitative nature of digital 
capitalism.

In October 1994, the inaugural MetaForum significantly impacted media 
art, activism and discourse within Hungary, across East-Central Europe 
and points further West. Organized by the Media Research Foundation in 
cooperation with the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest, it was 
conceived of and realized by Geert Lovink, Diana McCarty, and János 
Sugár. This series of three yearly conferences transformed the scope of 
media art events and gained a special notoriety. It sparked vital 
discussions and collaborations, blending media criticism, tactical 
media, and cultural exchanges between East and West.  As the 30th 
anniversary draws near, we are excited to announce MetaForumX, set for 
October 2024. This edition promises to tackle the critical issues of our 
era, focusing on the deep influence of digital technology on art, 
culture, and societal frameworks.

Over two days, MetaForumX will merge presentation formats and topics 
featuring younger voices that are engaged with current issues and 
reconnecting with original participants from the series with in-depth 
lectures, discussions and screenings. The urgent concerns of young 
people bridging generational knowledge and fostering ongoing dialogue 
for a sustainable and inclusive future.

The language of the conference is English.
Free entrance

Editorial Team
Flóra Barkóczi, Geert Lovink, Áron Lődi, Diana McCarty, Zsolt 
Miklósvölgyi, János Sugár

Speakers
Dušan Barok, Ágnes Básthy, András Cséfalvay, Mijke van der Drift, 
Constant Dullaart, Sepp Eckenhaussen, Charlotte Eifler, Boldizsár 
Hordós, Sanneke Huisman, Szabolcs Kisspál, Róna Kopeczky, Juli Laczkó, 
David Muñoz Alcántara, Szilvi Német, Tjaša Pogačar, Oleksiy Radynski, 
Vanda Sárai, Sanja Sekelj.

Day 0, 24 October 2024
16:00 Finissage at T+U’s exhibition at Trafó Gallery. Guided tour by 
Zsolt Miklósvölgyi and Márió Nemes Z.

19:00 Dinner at a Cintányéros restaurant [self paid] Budapest, Bókay 
János u. 52, 1083 
<https://www.google.com/maps/place//data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x4741dcf0b37ad929:0x6647e05e06f6d12c?sa=X&ved=1t:8290&ictx=111>
Day 1, 25 October  2024 – ‘Conference Day’ at Trafó

09:30-10:00
Registration

10:10-10:30
Welcome and Introduction by Flóra Barkóczi

10:30 - 12:00
Session 1: Sources of the Permanent Crises (presentations + discussion) 
moderated by János Sugár

-	Sanja Sekelj: Reconsidering the Crisis and the Art System: Structures 
and Narratives of and about CEE Cultural Actors in the 1990s and Early 
2000s from a CEE Perspective
-	Dušan Barok: Artist Organising and Para-Institutional Practices in the 
Semiperiphery
-	Ágnes Básthy: Crisis of What? – Taking a Suspicious Walk around our 
Fashionable Notions

12:00-13:00 Lunch Break at Trafó’s café (Trafik)

13:00 - 15:00
Session 2: From the Representation of Crises to the Crisis of 
Representation (presentations + discussion) moderated by Geert Lovink

-	Vanda Sárai: Virtual Bodies, Virtual Threats? On Online Violence and 
Real-Life Anxieties
-	Szilvi Német: Military Influencers in Peace Camp Hungary™. LARPing the 
War – But Standing Out of It
-	Constant Dullaart: Open-Sourced Iconoclasm
-	Charlotte Eifler: Utopia Feeds Machines – On Alternate Worldings

15:00 - 15:30
Coffee Break

15:30 - 17:00
Session 3: Technopolitics of Planetary Computation and Beyond 
(presentations + discussion) moderated by Zsolt Miklósvölgyi

-	Boldizsár Hordós: Naked Logic: Black Boxes and Eternal Computation
-	András Cséfalvay: Re-Imagined Space Exploration – Evolutionary History 
of the Call to Fly, Rise Above. Geopolitics of Extinction Angst and New 
Cosmologies
-	Juli Laczkó: All Computers are Broken. Rethinking the Technosphere 
Along the Lines of Repair and Maintenance Work

18:00 - 19:30
Hungarian University of Fine Arts - Intermedia Department  (1063 
Budapest, Kmety György u. 27.)
Screening and discussion + Q&A with Oleksiy Radynski
-	Where Russia Ends, 25 mins (dir. Oleksiy Radynski)

Day 2: October 26, 2024 – ‘Forum Day’ at Trafó

10:00 - 11:30
Session 4: Beyond the Institutional System – Cultural Work in the Era of 
PermaCrisis  -	Sepp Eckenhaussen: Art in Permacrisis: Organizing Art 
Workers in the World Beyond Art
Session 4+: Discussion moderated by Zsolt Miklósvölgyi
-	Sepp Eckenhaussen
-	Sanneke Huisman from LI-MA, Amsterdam
-	Tjaša Pogačar from ŠUM, Ljubljana
-	Róna Kopeczky from Easttopics & Secondary Archive, Budapest

11:30 - 12:30
Session 5: Red Forest (Mijke van der Drift, David Muñoz Alcántara & 
Diana McCarty) – in conversation with Szabolcs Kisspál

12:30 - 14:00
Lunch Break at Trafó's café (Trafik)

14:00 - 15:00
Session 6: Aims and Relevance of MetaForum – Then (1994-1996) and Now

Roundtable with Geert Lovink, Diana McCarty, János Sugár
Moderated by Flóra Barkóczi

15:00 - 15:30
Coffee break

15:30 - 16:30
Session 7: Discussion with members of students of the Budapest 
Intermedia Dept., UKRAiNATV (Krakow) and 3022 (Vilnius) of the newly 
founded Stream Art Network, moderated by Geert Lovink

16:30 - 17:30
Final discussion about contemporary arts, the digital condition and the 
perma crisis, in Hungary, the region, Europe and beyond

 From 18:00
Hungarian University of Fine Arts - Intermedia Department  (1063 
Budapest, Kmety György u. 27.)
Closing event
Stream Art Network LIVE with UKRAiNATV web streaming network, with 
onsite and remote contributions from Krakow, Kyiv and elsewhere, 
including a conversation between Szabolcs Kisspál and Geert Lovink & 
sound performance of Dániel Kophelyi and Ádám Jeneses

Partners: Trafó Gallery, Hungarian University of Fine Arts - Intermedia 
Department, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Hungary

More information: metaforumx at proton.me

https://trafo.hu/en/additional_programs/metaforum1#totop