(re)OPEN MINDS 2026: Adapting to the Future

Presented by the Goethe-Institut Toronto

The Goethe-Institut Toronto, in collaboration with SK Futures Inc., launches (re)OPEN MINDS: Adapting to the Future 2026, a year-long cross-sectoral and cross-disciplinary program examining the role of art and design in fostering resilience at the intersection of cultures, technology, and well-being. The initiative features works and ideas by artists and thinkers such as Wim Wenders, Ildikó Enyedi, Lilly Lulay, Christina Kubisch, Byung-Chul Han, alongside engagements with cultural practitioners, tech innovators, and community and thought leaders.

The project kicks off with a free hybrid colloquium co-hosted with the Design Research Lab at Berlin’s University of the Arts over the winter 2025/26 term. Experts from Canada to Croatia speak on “Art & Design as an Early Warning System” and inspire the students’ prototyping of speculative futures. Canadian artist Skawennati will discuss her work imagining Indigenous future through AR, fashion and more. Other contributors are art historian Nausikaä El-Mecky (Barcelona), curator Ivica Mitrović (Split), designer Maciej Chmara (Gdansk/Vienna/Berlin), Caitlin Fisher (Toronto) and media theorist Daniel Irrgang (Berlin).

Marking a decade since the Goethe-Institut’s original OPEN MINDS landmark program in 2016 in collaboration with Harbourfront Centre at Toronto’s Music Garden, this latest initiative revisits urgent questions about how creativity and culture help us address today's converging global crises. Hundreds of audiences engaged with Berlin's former Transmediale Festival director Stephen Kovats, Toronto social entrepreneur Ilana Ben-Ari, Hamburg artist Annika Kahrs, Toronto-based Japanese rock band MunizO, and foresight strategist Sanjay Khanna. 

Under the auspices of Prof. Dr. Gesche Joost, President of the Goethe-Institut, who was part of the 2016 program and will return to Toronto in 2026, (re)OPEN MINDS brings together artists and audiences to answer the question “What makes you stronger in the face of challenges?” Joost will carry the question into the Goethe network from Dakar to Kyiv. "Since 2016, the world has changed in ways few could have predicted," notes Gesche Joost. "With its experimental power, critical visions, and social impact, culture helps us reimagine alternative and more resilient futures."

(re)OPEN MINDS 2026 unfolds across two interconnected seasons exploring the cultural dimensions of technology and the environment: The spring focus on Algorithmic Cultures examines AI, digital disruption, and speculative futures, while the fall programming on Climate Cultures turns to human-nature relationships and ideas for ecological resilience. The programming features art exhibitions, media installations, film series, community workshops, philosophy strolls, and public dialogues, with contributions emphasizing connections to democracy, health, migration, and more.

"This is not another program about crises but a big-tent invitation to explore how arts and culture help us—personally and collectively— to meet and deal with the polycrisis," explain curators Jutta Brendemühl and Sanjay Khanna. "Our approach is critical not cynical, open not partisan, curious not naïve, urgent but hopeful."

By spotlighting the power of cultural insight and foresight and emphasizing change-making activated by a broad range of creative encounters, (re)OPEN MINDS 2026 aims to inspire and platform local responses to global challenges—keeping minds open and opening minds.

More programming and partnerships for Toronto and beyond to be announced as the program develops.

Curated by Jutta Brendemühl & Sanjay Khanna