András Szántó has published the third volume of his trilogy on the future of museums and the art world, titled "The Future of the Art World." The book compiles 38 interviews conducted between April 2024 and June 2025 with a wide range of art-world stakeholders, including artists, curators, collectors, dealers, auctioneers, art fair directors, sociologists, philosophers, and policymakers. Unlike his previous books, which focused on museum directors and architects, this volume gives significant voice to artists, who offer provocative critiques and predictions about the future of museums, art education, and digital art.
The book matters because it captures a moment of deep uncertainty and transformation in the art world, with contributors like Agnieszka Kurant questioning whether museums will survive in their current form and Joshua Citarella sketching dystopian and utopian scenarios for institutional futures. The interviews also address pressing issues such as the professionalization of art education, the intellectual limitations of much digital art, and the potential for new forms of collective and non-human intelligence in art-making. As a synthesis of diverse perspectives from across the art ecosystem, Szántó's book serves as a timely document of the anxieties and aspirations shaping contemporary art discourse.