About

In a world rattled by ecological breakdown, algorithmic control, political extremism and deepening instability, ARE 2026 arrives with urgency. Titled Unstable Grounds: Artistic Research Lines of Flight, this year’s Artistic Research Exhibition brings together international artists and researchers whose work confronts the fractures of the present and, in doing so, refuses paralysis or retreat. Developed within the European WIRE project of FilmEU, ARE has become a major platform for transdisciplinary artistic research, presenting works that move beyond the academy to engage directly with the cultural, political and social pressures reshaping contemporary life.

Rather than treating instability solely as a crisis, ARE 2026 frames it as a volatile space of possibility: a site where dominant structures begin to crack and new forms of relation, expression and knowledge can take shape. Drawing on Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of line of flight, the exhibition brings together audiovisual and media-based works that challenge fixed narratives, expose systems of control, and imagine alternative futures in motion. The result is a bold and timely exhibition that positions artistic research not as commentary emitted from the margins, but as a vital force for navigating, resisting and rethinking an unstable world.