The Art and the City conference was founded in 2018 by art historian Tijen Tunali. Since its inception, the conference has been held annually in a different city—Tours, Aarhus, Amman, Göttingen, and Nice—reflecting its focus on the socio-political dynamics of different urban environments around the globe. Over the years, it has received institutional support from esteemed partners, including MSH Val de Loire,  the Carlsberg Foundation, Aarhus University, Columbia University, the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity (MPI MMG), and Villa Arson Nice. The 8th Conference partner and host is the University of Cyprus in Nicosia.

The primary purpose of this conference is to facilitate interdisciplinary dialogues and collaborations among scholars with a specific focus on the intersections of art, aesthetics and the politics of the urban environment.The aim is to illuminate critical aspects of urban art practices, such as street art as artistic rebellion, the aesthetics of social movements, urban communities and commons, public art and authoritarianism, urban aesthetics and spatial justice, politics of urban heritage, art activism in urban spaces and eco-art and urbanocene. This diversity allows for a multifaceted understanding of the ideologies, relationships, meanings, and practices that emerge from the interactions between art and the urban environment. The conference strives to offer insights and promote a better understanding of how these interactions play out in different regions, ultimately contributing to the broader discourse on urban life, art, and social transformation.

The conference functions as a hub for scholars across the humanities and social sciences with exhibitions, special issues in journals, edited books, and joint grant applications.