Discussion 2 This symposium explores the controversial status of Futurist movements in art history, and some of their ‘avant-garde’ practices. Speakers engage with various forms of Futurist art, performance and film, including the use of manifestos and demonstrations. Italian Futurism will be viewed in relation to other radical art practices across Europe. The Futurists’ disdain for traditional values and their pursuit of an ‘art of modern life’ will be explored in relation to prevailing concepts of modernity and ‘avant-garde’ utopias. Speakers include curator Matthew Gale, art historians Mary Ann Caws and David Cottington, historian Alex Danchev, film historian Lutz Becker and writer and artist Tom McCarthy.