»CHANGE … THE CONSTANT UNKNOWN«

Following its 25th anniversary, eu-art-network is continuing its activities and will dedicate its upcoming symposium to the concept of change as a reliable constant in our lives.
We ourselves are starting with a change of venue: our 2026 symposium will take place in the town of Stadtschlaining in southern Burgenland.

As Bob Dylan sang back in 1963, “… The Times They Are a-Changin’” – an iconic song of the hippie era. Change as a constant process: from the Industrial Revolution to artificial intelligence, from cave paintings to the modern art market.

Change can be not only a challenge, but also an opportunity. Change triggers fear or euphoria, and can just as easily turn into the opposite. One could call this the “adventure of life”.
“Change means progress, and progress means life”, said Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach. Heraclitus phrased it in a metaphorical and poetic way: “No man ever steps into the same river twice, for it is not the same river, and he is not the same man.”
We are constantly encountering changes and are confronted with both pleasant and unpleasant ones. Looking at what is happening near and far in the world today, it fills us with concern to see democratic values give way to authoritarianism. It is difficult to claim that this change constitutes progress – surely, that does not apply to every kind of change. It is almost impossible to predict what outcomes certain processes will yield – a straightforward progression from idea to result is, by and large, a rarity.

The creative process can be viewed in much the same way. Creating of a work of art is something that very frequently involves processes of change. This is what we will explore, discuss and express via the means of contemporary art at our symposium, and the results will be documented in our Cahier d’art.