The Future of the Art World

with Marion Ackermann (President, Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation), Grace Yao (Founder and CEO, Artlas), and Thomas Girst (Global Head of Cultural Engagement, BMW Group), moderated by András Szántó (author and cultural strategy advisor)

What will the visual art world look like in ten or twenty years? In a time of accelerating change—fueled by ongoing geopolitical and economic crises, shifting discourses and audience expectations, strained cultural funding systems and the implementation of artificial intelligence to name but a few parameters—arts institutions and markets are looking to adapt to new realities. But how?

Drawing on András Szántó’s book The Future of the Art World: 38 Dialogues (2025), this talk explores an art world in flux, posing new challenges for its institutions as they chart a path to the future.