What will tomorrow look like for us? And how can we write ourselves into new stories? This summer, ACMI is rethinking how the future gets made and comes to life – in our wildest imaginations and on screen.
Featuring more than 180 ambitious works from 19 artists from around the world – and including major commissions from First Nations creators – The Future & Other Fictions showcases artworks, sets, props, scripts, video installations, costumes and original design materials. It aims to show audiences the power of unresolved or work-in-progress ideas in shaping a rich creative process, as well as how storytelling can shape our futures.
“When making this exhibit, we kept returning to Western tropes of science fiction and aliens and zombies,” says Amanda Haskard (Gunai/Kurnai), who co-curated the exhibition with Chelsey O’Brien and film director Liam Young. “The Future & Other Fictions isn’t about [paying homage to those familiar tropes]. It’s set on Earth. It’s set on Country. It’s set on planet. We wanted people to be able to see themselves in these stories of the future on screen.”
The potential of what a decolonised world could look like comes to life through items such as Academy Award-winning designer Ruth E Carter’s intricate Afrofuturistic costume designs for Marvel Studios’ Black Panther and its sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; Nigerian-born Olalekan Jeyifous’s experimental photo-collage series * The Anarchonauts*
, which speculates over what Lagos will look like in 2050; and Tamil Nadu-born multidisciplinary artist Osheen Siva’s vivid animations of queer and femme-inspired dreamscapes.
The curatorial team selected each artist, and their work, with representation in mind. “If you come from a background where you have English as a second language or didn’t grow up in Australia, or you’re third generation ... for someone to walk into the exhibit and see themselves in a story and witness that representation [of themselves] – that’s really, really important,” Haskard says.
As part of the exhibition, ACMI has commissioned two new moving-image-based works to platform First Peoples knowledge and sovereignty, breaking down traditional binaries between representations of utopia versus dystopia: After the End is a collaboration between co-curator Young and actor, scriptwriter and activist Natasha Wanganeen (Ngarrindjeri, Narungga, Kaurna and Noongar).
The film begins 50,000 years ago and weaves a new story of Australia, projected across 12 metres and surrounded by tapestries that represent the colours of Wanganeen’s Country.
The second new commission is a large-scale video projection piece by DJ and visual artist Hannah Brontë. Birth of Dawn was made in collaboration with a videographer, sound designer, vocalist, editor, actors, dancers and models – including pregnant BIPOC people. “It’s a cyclic work [that goes through] being born, flourishing, rotting, decaying, beginning again. There’s no beginning or end, symbolising blackfulla time, and repeats in dreamscapes untouched by man-made objects,” Haskard says.
The Future & Other Fictions will also feature works related to Iceland’s visionary pop star and environmental activist Bjork, particularly the music video for The Gate. Expect to find concept sketches and reference materials from collaborator and video director Andrew Thomas Huang; custom-made head and facepieces by British embroiderer and mask-maker James Merry; and a custom Gucci gown by Italian fashion designer Alessandro Michele.
The gown took over 550 hours to make and can bend light that passes through it to reflect rainbow light beams. “[The dress] looks like a hologram and is incredibly beautiful in real life. Bjork herself described it as a ‘a stubborn beam of light ... like hope in the dark’,” says Haskard.
“For special effects and architecture fans, Wellington-based Wētā Workshop’s expansive yet miniature cityscapes, originally featured in Blade Runner 2049, showcase a legacy film industry practice of carefully hand-built environments to realise a futuristic Los Angeles,” she adds.
Audiences can also discover one-of-a-kind costumes flown in from the 2024 Sydney Biennale, created by Aotearoa-based multidisciplinary Pacific and Māori collective the Pacific Sisters, alongside dozens of other works.
As for the reality of our futures, Haskard thinks figuring out what’s next is up to the audience. “The future is speculative. That’s what the exhibit is trying to do: to shift people’s imagination into thinking what might be possible, too.”
Broadsheet is a proud media partner of ACMI. The Future & Other Fictions runs from Thursday November 28. 2024 until Sunday April 27, 2025. Entry is between $10–$22.50, and free for Blak Membership. Find more details and purchase tickets at acmi.net.au.
