Media Art 21
Media Art 21 (MA21) is a new bi-lingual online editorial platform hosted by the Center for Art and Media | Karlsruhe (ZKM). It addresses some of the most urgent topics of our time through three key themes - Ecologies, Post-human, The Commons.
With a specific focus on the Global South and a commitment to pedagogies centered in our daily use of technologies, this platform seeks to provide access to content produced since 2000 and to expand horizontally in organic ways through a network of artists, curators, and scholars who share a belief in accessibility of content as much as in the need of criticality and contextualization. To offer both in one platform is one of the stated goals of MA21. To imagine uses and directions for the project is the topic of this symposium.
Media art is an essential part of global contemporary art practice. It addresses the world of the present through a shared discourse of the media of the past, present, and future. With the increasing artistic production of media art and its growing presence in international art exhibitions comes a growing need for critical and scholarly reflection, as well as for the inclusion of this field of practice in art education. For artists, scholars, curators, and students, access to original materials in conjunction with critical reflection is of prime importance for the study and development of an artistic field that has remarkably influenced, shaped, and stimulated contemporary art.
On March 27, 2025, at HongKong Art Centre during art Basel, we convened advisors, contributors and scholars to discuss their needs for a pedagogy of the 21st century centered on the three thematic topics. A second symposium regarding Media Art 21 was held on May 10, 2025, at Rhizome World in New York City. These Symposia are aimed at the larger public interested in a more accessible approach to contemporary and media-based practices.
Organized by ZKM and CAFA with the co-artistic directors of the platform, Rudolf Frieling (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art), Alistair Hudson (Center for Art and Media | Karlsruhe), and Zhang Ga (Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing), Media Art 21 is an ongoing project with initial funding from the HE Foundation and additional support from the New Media Arts Foundation, and is hosted by the ZKM. The project encourages contributions from potential partners—artists, scholars, critics, and curators—to participate in all constructive ways, making it a rich intellectual resource for the study of media art in the new millennium.
Media Art 21
Media Art 21 centers on the three overarching themes of Commons, Posthuman and Ecology.
Find all MA21 articles here
Commons
The Commons addresses the old practice of sharing resources managed by a community. Evolving landscapes of media art across different geographies, foreground the multiplicities of artistic voices, technological adaptations, and socio-political contexts with a focus on collective and collaborative narratives aiming at the "common good" in the 21st century.
Ecology
The urgent need to reflect on Ecology as a broader eco-critical framework within the arts and mediated environments acknowledges the interdependencies of materiality, technology, cultural histories, and critical practices as a field of experimentation and imagination.
Posthuman
In the Age of AI the authors of the Posthuman engage with questions of agency, aesthetics, and the evolving role of creative practice in a post-humanist landscape. Their theoretical and geopolitical perspectives serve as a critical frame on AI’s impact on contemporary media art.
