Image: Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
The Städel Museum in Frankfurt am Main will host a two-day AI festival, ‘Imagining Futures in Noisy Times’, on 4 and 5 September 2026. The museum describes the event as a platform for discussing future scenarios at the intersection of art, technology and society, with talks, workshops, stations and guided tours led by figures from AI research, art and science.
According to the museum’s programme information, the festival runs on Friday from 3 pm and on Saturday from 10 am. Tickets are available as one-day or two-day passes, with the two-day ticket offered at a discounted rate while supplies last. The museum also notes that its Modern and Old Masters collection areas will remain open to regular visitors during the festival.
The festival is framed as part of the museum’s wider digital and educational activity. In an interview published on Städel Stories, Pamela Rohde and Chantal Eschenfelder said the museum sees the event as a way to bring the societal transformation around artificial intelligence into the institution’s own setting as a place of learning and public exchange. They described the programme as an open platform aimed not only at art and AI enthusiasts, but also at young professionals and museum experts.
The museum’s materials say the event will focus on three themes: ‘KI, Visionen und Kunst’ [AI, visions and art], ‘Bildung und Forschung im KI-Zeitalter’ [education and research in the AI age], and ‘Humanität und Miteinander’ [humanity and togetherness]. Across these strands, the festival is set to address questions about the changing role of museums in the age of AI, how AI alters access to art and knowledge, and how technology shapes social interaction. The museum also highlights topics including trustworthy AI, educational equity in the digital age and the potential of AI for art mediation.
A varied speaker line-up is announced on the festival page, including Björn Ommer, Hito Steyerl, Ijoma Mangold, Constanze Kurz, Bernhard Pörksen, Peter Bell and Wolfgang M. Schmitt. The programme will be moderated by, among others, Michel Abdollahi, Laura Cazés, Eva Schulz, Pamela Rohde and Vivian Perkovic. The museum says the format will include keynotes and panels on two stages, as well as workshops and open labs in which participants can exchange views and develop ideas for a museum of the future.
Beyond the stage programme, visitors will be able to encounter digital offers from the museum and AI projects from the Frankfurt region at stations throughout the Städel collection. The festival also includes thematic tours focused on major works of art history. On the first day, the published schedule lists a welcome session, Björn Ommer’s keynote ‘Zukunft gestalten: Warum KI ins Museum gehört’, a panel on how people talk about AI, and a closing hangout with music, drinks and networking.
The festival is being presented by the Städel Museum at Schaumainkai 63 in Frankfurt am Main. It is supported by the Aventis Foundation and the Gemeinnützige Hertie-Stiftung, with further support from the Rudolf-August Oetker-Stiftung, Fazit-Stiftung and Procter & Gamble.
