A group exhibition titled "New Rituals [for the End of the World]" at the House of Electronic Arts Basel (HEK) explores the intersection of technology, spirituality, and folklore. Co-curated by artist Anan Fries and curator Marlene Wenger, the show features works such as Etsuko Ichihara's "Namahage in Tokyo" (2017), inspired by a Japanese folk ritual, and Auriea Harvey's "Idol.App" (2025), an interactive installation that prints encrypted prophecies. The exhibition also includes a 20-minute aural installation by Stefanie Egedy and arrives amid a broader resurgence of interest in spirituality as a response to accelerating technological change and AI's pervasive influence.
The exhibition matters because it addresses the contemporary anxiety of living in an era of overlapping ecological, political, and technological crises, offering ritual and ceremony as coping strategies. By blending ancient folkloric traditions with cutting-edge technology, the show critiques the mythmaking of Silicon Valley while proposing new forms of spiritual practice. It also highlights how artists are engaging with AI not just as a tool but as a subject of mystical and critical inquiry, reflecting a growing cultural conversation about faith, technology, and human resilience.