The Future is Now

The future is not a fixed destination but the result of choices made in the present. The knowledge created today shapes the worldviews of future generations. This is the premise of The Future is Now, the exhibition with which the VU ART SCIENCE Gallery celebrates its fifth anniversary. The exhibition will feature works by melanie bonajo, Anna Hoetjes, Maria Pask, and patricia kaersenhout.

Knowledge is not neutral. During periods of colonization, science was used to legitimize racism. Yet even in contemporary America, we can see how the production of knowledge in art and science is shaped by political leaders in the White House. If we do not want the production of knowledge to depend on those who temporarily hold power, we must fight for sustainable forms of knowledge that serve society as a whole. This requires us to continue striving for inclusive knowledge production in which less powerful voices are also heard. The Future is Now documents and activates an interdisciplinary and inclusive form of knowledge production that serves a democratic society. Central to the exhibition is the question of how diverse voices, experiences, and local perspectives can be integrated into the social knowledge base, and how art and science can reinforce one another in this process.

The Future is Now invites artists, researchers, and the public to exchange ideas about inclusive knowledge production through an exhibition and a public programme consisting of a symposium and a variety of participatory workshops.

Five Years of the VU ART SCIENCE Gallery

With The Future is Now, the VU ART SCIENCE Gallery celebrates its first lustrum. The gallery was founded in 2021 with the aim of bringing together art, science, and society, based on the understanding that the combination of art and science is essential for understanding ourselves and the world around us, and that art is an essential part of knowledge production.

In collaboration with artists, researchers, and the public, the gallery organizes exhibitions, talks, and workshops that offer multidisciplinary perspectives on contemporary issues. By embracing uncertainty and the diversity of methods and outcomes as points of departure, the gallery creates an open space for knowledge creation.

Anniversary Publication

To mark its fifth anniversary, the gallery will publish a book titled The Future is Now, in which participants from the past five years reflect on their experiences in interviews conducted by Loes van Beuningen. The publication has been designed by Eva van der Schans of Inedition.