SXSW 2025: Museum of the Future

Amid the buzz of SXSW 2025, an unexpected cultural crossroads: one corner of Austin, Texas has been transformed into a hub for Middle Eastern innovation. Dubai’s pop-up Museum of the Future is an exercise in soft power that not only puts a spotlight on the emirate’s culture and hospitality, but it also offers an optimistic roadmap for the tech-powered future.

The experience is an outpost of its namesake, the Museum of the Future in Dubai, which transports guests to the year 2071, showcasing visions of the future rather than the past. In an era dominated by dystopian visions, the institution aims to offer an important counter-narrative, a positive lens on the future that encourages a sense of agency in visitors. The five-day event has been a hit with the SXSW crowds, drawing lines daily and racking up 16,000 visits and counting.

Many of those in line were angling for a glimpse of a genuine highlight at the festival: an installation of Refik Anadol’s AI-powered artwork “Earth Dreams,” which is also on display at the Museum in Dubai. The piece uses machine learning to translate environmental data into mesmeric visuals that bring to life the hidden patterns in nature.

Museum of the Future pop-up at SXSW

The pop-up also offered programming from diverse speakers and topics not seen elsewhere at the festival, from Arab cinema, to growing sustainable food in the desert and even featuring an appearance from Hazzaa Al Mansoori, the first Emirati astronaut.

Alongside the food for thought, guests could also indulge in a taste of Dubai hospitality in the museum’s garden. Chocolatier FIX brought its pistachio and tahini chocolate, a TikTok viral sensation inspired by the Middle Eastern dessert knafeh, while Project Chaiwala offered traditional chai demonstrations.

VML Intelligence spoke to Brendan McGetrick, internationally renowned curator and creative director of the museum, who explained that the time is right to share some of Dubai’s optimism. “People's assumption of what the future is going to be like is grim” he said, adding “there's a self-fulfilling dimension to that, where if you're incapable of imagining a better future, then you're probably incapable of producing a better future.”

The nation itself stands as an example of what can be achieved. “The United Arab Emirates is just fifty years old,” he said, “What they've achieved in that time is extraordinary - in 1971 we had one high school and one road. Who knows where we're going to be in 50 years?”

The goal of the pop-up then is to open minds and ultimately, encourage people to think differently about Dubai. “I would like people to feel a bit more curious, and maybe a bit warmer about it,” said McGetrick. In a year in which brand activations were significantly thinner on the ground, the showcase suggested a city confident of its emerging role as a global leader in innovation and creativity.

Main image: Refik Anadol Earth Dreams at Museum of the Future, SXSW 2025