Cultural consultant András Szántó has released his most ambitious work yet, "The Future of the Art World: 38 Dialogues," published by Hatje Cantz. The book features comprehensive interviews with key figures across the art ecosystem, conducted between April 2024 and June 2025, offering insights into where the industry is headed.
This latest volume completes Szántó's trilogy that began during the pandemic with "The Future of the Museum" (2021), followed by "Imagining the Future Museum" (2022). The new book expands beyond museum directors to include artists, curators, collectors, patrons, dealers, auctioneers, art fair directors, sociologists, philosophers, and policymakers.
Some of the most provocative predictions come from artists themselves. Polish-born, New York-based artist Agnieszka Kurant suggests that museums as we know them may not survive. "I think it's possible that the museum as a construct may not survive," she tells Szántó. "I have a strong feeling that maybe in a thousand years there will not be any museums. Changes in society, culture, and technology will be so rapid that it will be more important to be up to date with what is new."
Artist and writer Joshua Citarella presents both dystopian and utopian scenarios for museums' future. In his darker vision, museums could become sites of extreme political disobedience, potentially shutting down their function as public spaces, while simultaneously transforming into giant private collections accessible only to the ultra-wealthy. His more optimistic scenario involves museums investing heavily in artist studio spaces and cultivating entire generations of artists within institutional frameworks.
Kurant offers unconventional advice for aspiring artists, suggesting they skip art school entirely. "Study sociology, anthropology, or literature. Read books and newspapers. Travel. Go to a demonstration or a conference, intern at an NGO," she recommends. She criticizes the professionalization of art, stating that "trying to replicate professional career patterns or market success leads mostly to cookie-cutter, commercial, uninspiring art."
The book also features sharp critiques of contemporary digital art. Kurant doesn't hold back, saying, "A lot of contemporary digital art is not challenging intellectually. It is essentially data visualization." This comment appears later in the book than remarks from Refik Anadol, whose work some might interpret as fitting Kurant's description. Anadol tells Szántó that "AI will become an invisible layer in humanity's fabric" and predicts "constantly generated reality."
Gallery perspectives reveal significant concerns about the current art world structure. Jose Kuri, founder of Mexico City-based kurimanzutto gallery, questions whether galleries should exist beyond their founders, asking, "When Gerhard Richter dies, could the studio of Richter continue making his paintings?" He also criticizes art fairs for "reproducing the power structures that we've been living with in the gallery system," noting how major galleries receive prime booth locations while smaller galleries are relegated to less desirable spots.
Former Art Basel CEO Marc Spiegler acknowledges that the rise of art fairs has created "art-fair art" – what he describes as "domestic-size, bright-colored, less-expensive versions of artists' better works." He warns of a future where the art market becomes "radically consolidated" with fewer galleries selling work by fewer artists, where being a mid-tier gallery becomes "a hobby for the super-wealthy, like playing polo."
Current Art Basel CEO Noah Horowitz discusses the fair's evolution beyond traditional formats, mentioning retail initiatives like the Art Basel shop. He hints at expansion possibilities, asking, "Are there other cities where we could land full-fledged Art Basel fairs? Maybe." The book later reveals that Qatar is positioning itself as a potential new art hub, with Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani explaining that after two decades of cultural development, Qatar is now ready for international galleries.
The book highlights dramatic regional differences in museum development. While Saudi Arabia aims to establish around thirty national and regional museums by 2030, including the Red Sea Museum in Jeddah and the Black Gold Museum, American museums face different challenges. Mia Locks of Museums Moving Forward reports that about two-thirds of U.S. museum workers are considering leaving their jobs due to low pay, burnout, and lack of growth opportunities.
Several interviewees express concern about the art world's commercialization. Carol Yinghua Lu, director of Beijing's Inside-Out Art Museum, notes that while "the art world has expanded enormously," its "ability to think and to lead imagination has not grown commensurately." She argues it has become "too regulated, too capitalized, and too bureaucratic for the development of art."
Despite these challenges, some see opportunity in current market difficulties. Kurant suggests that "the current political and economic meltdown, the absolute commercialization of art, and the current downfall of the art market are about to result in a refreshing wave of conceptual art that is not grounded in market value at all." This perspective offers hope that artistic innovation might emerge from current industry disruptions, potentially reshaping how art is created, valued, and experienced in the coming decades.
