An artistic and reflexive project around the notion of the "future perfect", the passage of time, individual and collective responsibility in the current cultural and political ecosystem, and future perspectives and goals.
What is the "future perfect"? A perspective of the future on what the past (our present) will have been if we do not think, act, and create in the here and now of catastrophe. The future aspect of the tense is perfect because it offers a complete judgment of our present: we will have been nothing, not even remembered, if we do not painstakingly chip away at wealth disparity, privatization, precarization, corruption, environmental degradation, growing patriarchy, nationalism, racism, xenophobia, ethnic conflict and civil wars—just the latest accomplishments of capitalism and its political forms. If Freud wondered about the "future of an illusion," the continued existence of religion after its rational critique, today we must confront "the illusion of a future," the crumbling of the future once promised by the "invisible hand of the market," our contemporary religion.
With the growth of our creative and cultural ecosystem, there is an opportunity, as well as a responsibility, to reflect on our purpose, and what that means for the future. Future Perfect features contributions from a regional group of writers, thinkers, artists, and curators, resulting from the shared dialogue, discussion, and conversations that took place among the first cohort of cultural practitioners in the 421 Curatorial Development.
In the pages of this publication, you will encounter courageous reflections that suggest different paradigms through which to consider how we conceptualize time or the passage of time, and our individual and collective roles in it.
Published as a result of 421 Curatorial Development Exhibition Program, in partnership with Bombay Institute of Critical Analysis and research (BICAR), which took place in 2021–2022. This cycle of the program was titled "Future Perfect: Catastrophe and The Contemporary" and included a series of talks and discussions in which the contributors of this publication have participated.
Edited by Rohit Goel.
Foreword by Faisal Al Hassan; introduction by Rohit Goel.
Contributions by Rohit Goel, Frank Ruda, Mays Albaik, Ala Younis, Isaac Sullivan, Veeranganakumari Solanki, Rico Franses, Mona Al Jadir, Mays Albaik.
