Fondazione Prada’s Osservatorio in Milan presents The Island, a site-specific project by Hito Steyerl, an artist and theorist whose practice explores the role of digital technologies in the production and circulation of images, highlighting their cultural, political, and social implications.
With The Island, Steyerl invites audiences to engage with some of the most pressing issues of our time: the rise of new forms of authoritarianism, geopolitical conflicts, the climate crisis, and the increasingly pervasive impact of artificial intelligence. For the project, the artist has created a film that unfolds throughout the exhibition space as a constellation of video installations.
The narrative moves through continuous shifts in space and time, drawing equally on the principles of quantum physics and the imaginaries of science fiction. Rather than serving merely as a narrative device, science fiction becomes a critical tool for questioning the ways in which we interpret reality, opening up the possibility of imagining alternative futures. Fiction and scientific data, speculation and concrete references intertwine in a narrative that dissolves the boundaries between reality and imagination, inviting visitors to reflect on how images shape our perception of the world today.

Date: from December 4, 2025 to October 30, 2026
More info: Fondazione Prada 

Image: Exhibition view The Island di Hito Steyerl
Osservatorio Fondazione Prada, Milano
Photo: Andrea Rossetti
Courtesy: Fondazione Prada

24/07/26