Museum of Art and Science, Singapore displays New Eden: Science Fiction Mythology Transformed.
Exhibition New Eden: Science Fiction Mythology Transformed Delves into the intersection between science fiction and Asian spiritual philosophies through the creative praxis of twenty-four Asian women artists and collectives. By confronting the masculine bias often found in Western science fiction—a historically male-dominated genre—New Eden: Science Fiction Mythology Transformed It reshapes dominant narratives, embracing more democratic forms of storytelling and art-making. By intentionally highlighting more diverse female artists and voices, the exhibition calls for a new future that more uniformly reflects the heterogeneity of contemporary society.
Throughout the exhibition’s eight chapters, the conjunction between Asian religious or spiritual existential concepts and speculative ideas found in Western science fiction is explored. The various belief systems of Southeast Asia, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Shintoism, provide fertile ground for creative storytelling and philosophical exploration. For example, ideas found in Eastern philosophies—which question the inherent illusion of perceived reality—resonate with Western science fiction novels that explore ideas such as simulated realities and alternate dimensions.
The juxtaposition of historical Asian artifacts, cinematic science fiction, and Shilpa Gupta’s contemporary artwork highlights how spiritual liberation, as embodied in Buddhism and Hinduism, is a mirror of the science fiction concept of transhumanism and the digital uploading of human consciousness. Featuring sentient ecosystems and bioengineered organisms, works by The House of Natural Fiber and Chok Si Xuan explore the fundamental interconnectedness of all living things and sci-fi visions of a world where technology and nature are seamlessly intertwined. These parallel aspects of Shintoism, a Japanese religion that focuses on a deep connection to nature, and belief in the “kami” – spirits that inhabit the natural environment. South Korean artists Moon and Jeon highlight the similarities between science fiction concepts of wormhole-like spatial anomalies that provide fast interstellar travel and the ability to alter distances and connections between entities – manipulating the fabric of reality itself – as observed in the spiritual cultivation of “warping.” Or “folding” space found in Taoist philosophy.
Artists Patty Chang and Cao Fei – both known for their thought-provoking social commentary – draw on their work to examine gender, urbanism, and the potential future impact of technology on society. Sputniko! Ann Samat and Su Yu Noi literally and figuratively weave indigenous Asian motifs with contemporary sensibilities, a gesture that destabilizes traditional artistic narratives and calls for a more pluralistic engagement. Science fiction’s embrace of Asian mysticism and spiritual philosophies culminates in the exhibition’s final chapter, where Mariko Mori’s seminal work, Miku no Inori– A piece that embodies these complex intersections – placed alongside Les Paul and Astra Subarak installations – interrogates the sometimes difficult social and political structures of science fiction.
Artists in New Eden: Science Fiction Mythology TransformedDrawing on their own Asian traditions, they question what we see in the science fiction genre and confront preconceptions, encouraging us all to search for new narratives, aesthetics and creative proposals.
Artists include: Morehshin Allahyari (Iran), Cao Fei (China), Patty Zhang (USA), Kara Chen (Singapore), Chok Si Chuan (Singapore), Club Atty (Australia), Debbie Deng (Singapore), Fei Yi Ning (China) ), Shilpa Gupta (India), Etsuko Ichihara (Japan), Lee Paul (South Korea), Liu Xiaofang (China), Chen Liu (China), Mariko Mori (Japan), Moon & Jeon (South Korea), Nap Studio & Architects. (Hong Kong), Nguyen Trinh Thi (Vietnam), PACK (South Korea), Anh Samat (Malaysia), Soi Yu Nui (Myanmar), Sputniko! (Japan), Astraea Subarak (USA), The House of Natural Fiber (Indonesia), and Saya Woolfalk (Japan).
Curated by the ArtScience Museum (Jill Chen, Joel Chen, Adrian George and Honor Harger). More information can be found here.
New Eden: Science Fiction Mythology Transformed It is part of Where art takes form 2024 and Singapore Art Week 2024 programs.
