Inspiration

Our understanding of the prehistoric is largely based on the study of materials, artefacts, geometric marks and representational paintings found in caves and lands more than 75,000 years ago. These archives have served as references, reflecting how the earliest people lived. Collectively, they present a story on how defining moments have shaped communities and evolved civilisations.

In the Age of Information over 75 years ago, the advent of computers transformed the way we produced, stored, transmitted and consumed the new world of data. How has the prevailing archive of civilisations contributed to the way we frame and see ourselves in the 21st century? How does the existence of such resources invigorate and humble human sentience in spite of ubiquitous artificial intelligence and digital proliferations?

Inspired by Aby Warburg's The Mnemosyne Atlas (1924 –1929) which charts the evolution or continuity of symbolic images across cultures and time, this forum will explore the intentions of documentation and artistic practice, revealing how both viewers and artists co-create anthologies as art and as humanity. The forum invites reflections on past archives and on modern records, to evoke the emotional and the intellectual. After all, what is art except the real-time manifestation of intrinsic cultural definition and shared knowledge, cascading the meaningful effects that ultimately shape individual identities and societies at large.