The final exhibition in the Worldmaking series, Reverse Futures, opens 26 June. The exhibition centres on ideas of the future from the Global South, where past, present and future are interconnected. Grounded in historical research, artists’ lived experiences, community narratives and Indigenous knowledge systems, the exhibition examines how the effects of colonialism, migration and technological change continue to shape both the present and our visions of what lies ahead.
Featured artists: Etel Adnan, Cave_bureau, Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler, Paula Gaetano Adi, Kamil Adam Hassim, Traci Kwaai, Ernest Mancoba, Georgia Munnik, Yinka Shonibare, and special projects by Wolff Architects and Rebecca Potterton.
The title Reverse Futures is derived from Nairobi-based architectural practice Cave_bureau who coined the term ‘reverse futurism’ to address the impact and effects of colonialism in Africa and specifically Kenya, explaining that “for the future to exist we need to undo the mistakes of the past” [Mohamed, B. (2025). “Design in Deep Time”, in Future Observatory Journal No. 3, https://fojournal.org/case-study/cave-bureau-profile-more-than-human/]. Reverse Futurism refers to remedial acts that address this history and the present at the same time, while making pathways of healing in the midst of colonial and ongoing neocolonial affective and administrative architectures [Karanja, K. & Mutegi, S. (2023). Cave Bureau, The Architect’s Studio. Humlebaek, DK: Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, pp. 52, 84, 105].