Hito Steyerl is one of today's most important contemporary artists. Her films and installations are shown worldwide in renowned museums, as well as at the Venice Biennale and documenta. On the occasion of the exhibition organized by Deichtorhallen Hamburg, an accompanying publication is being released featuring an interview between Hito Steyerl and Joshua Citarella. In their conversation, they discuss the political and cultural consequences of the end of globalization and how our perception of the present and future is changing. They speak about the role of art and media in an era of profound technological and social shifts, the impact of artificial intelligence, and what forms of culture and society might emerge beyond the 2020s.

Hito Steyerl (*1966 in Munich) is a filmmaker, media artist, and author. She is among the most internationally influential figures in contemporary art. In her films and installations, she examines the interweavings of art, technology, politics, and economics. Her works have been exhibited worldwide in renowned museums, most recently at MACRO Rome, MAK Vienna, Fondazione Prada Milan, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, and Centre Pompidou Paris. Steyerl was awarded the S+T+Arts Prize in 2026, received the Erich Fromm Prize in 2025, and the Käthe Kollwitz Prize from the Academy of Arts, Berlin, in 2019. She is a professor of Emergent Digital Media at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich.

Joshua Citarella (*1987 in New York) is an artist and author whose work addresses internet culture, digital publics, and politics. He lives and works in New York, hosts the podcast Doomscroll, and is the founder of the non-profit art organization Do Not Research. Citarella has taught at institutions including the Rhode Island School of Design and the School of Visual Arts. His artistic works are represented in collections such as the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, and the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College, USA.