Join us for an in-depth discussion on how museums can adapt in a time of accelerating change. Global disruptions, technological advancement, and demographic shifts are reshaping the museum experience; however, these challenges present opportunities for museums to innovate and rethink their approaches. Two international museum directors will begin this program by sharing their insights on how institutions can evolve to meet new challenges.

The second half of the session will feature a special conversation between András Szántó, Consulting Director of Museums of Tomorrow Roundtable, and Refik Anadol, mixed media artist and director of RAS LAB. Anadol will discuss his AI art practice, collaborations with art institutions, and his upcoming AI art museum, Dataland.

Schedule

1:30 pm: Museum Directors Presentations and Panel Discussion 

3 pm: A Conversation on AI and Art with Refik Anadol

About the Museums of Tomorrow Roundtable

An initiative led by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Museums of Tomorrow Roundtable (MTR) is a biennial event that convenes international and local museum leaders in the Bay Area for conversations focused on the complex challenges and opportunities driving change in the museum field. Organized in partnership with András Szántó LLC, MTR features workshops, visits to cultural institutions, and sessions with technology leaders held in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. 

About the speakers

Refik Anadol is a media artist, director of Refik Anadol Studio, and co-founder of Dataland. He currently resides in Los Angeles where he owns and operates Refik Anadol Studio. Anadol’s work locates creativity at the intersection of humans and machines. Taking the data that surrounds us as primary material, and the neural network of a computerized mind as a collaborator, Anadol offers us radical visualizations of our digitized memories and expands the possibilities of interdisciplinary arts. 

Serving for over 15 years as Director and CEO of two major US art museums — the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 2009–2017, and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco since 2018 — Thomas P. Campbell has dedicated his life to the preservation, study, and promotion of art as a gateway to human understanding.

Phillip Ihenacho is the Executive Director of the Museum of West African Art. He co-founded Africa Nature Investors, an African-led ecosystem conservation organization in Nigeria. He is a founder and partner of Amaya Capital, a principal investment firm that is an investor in infrastructure in Africa and founder of investment banking firm Afrinvest (UK) Limited. Before this, Phillip worked with the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. He has a BA from Yale University and a JD from Harvard Law School. He was born in Lagos and grew up in Jos, Nigeria. 

Ingrid Røynesdal has been the Director of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Norway since 2023. Born in Trondheim in 1978, Røynesdal has built a distinguished career at the intersection of culture, leadership, and the arts. Before joining the National Museum, she served as CEO of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra (2013–2023), and led the Edvard Grieg Museum Troldhaugen in Bergen (2011–2013). Røynesdal holds board positions at Aschehoug, one of Norway’s leading publishing houses, and Spekter, a key employer’s organization in the country.

András Szántó is a cultural strategy advisor to museums and arts organizations worldwide. He helped launch the Global Museum Leaders Colloquium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museums of Tomorrow Roundtable at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. His books The Future of the Museum (2020) and Imagining the Future Museum (2022) explore new paradigms for cultural institutions. He lives in Brooklyn and holds a PhD from Columbia University.

Ticket info

Free program. First come, first served. Seating is limited and unassigned. Doors open 30 minutes before the start of the program.

Contact info

Public Programs
publicprograms@famsf.org
415.750.7694