Art, Critique and Critical Utopias – METU’s Annual Art Conference

On 10–11 September 2026, the French Institute in Budapest will host the annual conference of the Faculty of Art and Creative Industries at Budapest Metropolitan University. The two-day event will explore what utopia might mean today and how art can contribute to imagining and shaping possible futures.

In an age of global crises—including the climate crisis, growing social inequalities, technological transformation and the crisis of democracy—the need to imagine possibilities beyond the existing order has become increasingly urgent. Although confidence in grand social visions has been shaken, contemporary art and theory continue to reopen the question of possible alternatives.

The conference Art, Critique and Critical Utopias approaches utopia not as a ready-made model of an ideal society, but as a critical and speculative practice for rethinking the present. Its presentations and roundtable discussions will consider how critical imagination can open pathways to social action, create new horizons of community, inspire alternative institutions and forms of education, and reshape relations between human, technological and natural worlds.

Over the course of two days, Hungarian and international speakers will examine the connections between utopian thought, social change, ecology, contemporary art and art education. The conference will be accompanied by art workshops and an exhibition presenting their outcomes.