Current Theme

The upcoming theme for 2026-2028 is Authority and Resistance.

Police and protestors. Security and surveillance. Borders and immigration. Tradition and change. Despair and hope. Scarcity and sustainability. Renaissance and revolution.

These tensions dominate the news today. They highlight urgent local struggles while also pointing to global concerns rooted in authority and resistance – forces that move across geographical boundaries, cultures, political systems and historical periods.

This year in Arts One, we will explore the complex dynamics and questions that shape the relationship between “Authority and Resistance.” How does authority legitimate itself? Who gets to claim authority and why? How does resistance take shape? How does resistance itself reshape authority (and vice versa)? What happens when the lines between the two get blurred?

Through works ranging from political philosophy to memoir, from classic horror to sci-fi, and from novel to comic, we will move beyond binaries that emphasize the clash between authority and resistance to examine how struggles over power can open pathways toward transformation and new beginnings, navigating the often chaotic terrain that lies in between.