MG+MSUM

TRAVELING EXHIBITION | Constellations of Multiple Wishes
London, 17 February - 4 June 2023
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Constellations of Multiple Wishes 

The Mosaic Rooms, London
17.2. - 4.6. 2023


The Mosaic Rooms is hosting Constellations of Multiple Wishes. This group exhibition contemplates entangled recent histories, from the foundations of the Non-Aligned Movement. Co-curated with Bojana Piškur (Moderna galerija, Ljubljana), the exhibition brings together archival materials, existing and newly commissioned works that connect peripheral geographies, agitating relationships between time and memory.

Derived from the principles of the 1955 Afro–Asian Conference in Bandung, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) mobilised a desire for an alternative to the two dominant power blocks during the Cold War. Born in 1961 out of the liberation and independence movements across the globe, its ideology was rooted in anti-imperialism, anti-colonialism, anti-racism and anti-capitalism. It sought to initiate infrastructures of cultural equality and expansive networks of cooperation and solidarity.

Although significantly distinct, our shared present remains burdened by deep divisions and increasing global inequalities. Though NAM continues to exist now with 120 member states, it has lost its significance and resemblance to the 1960s movement and its intentions. Avoiding the allure of nostalgia, Constellations of Multiple Wishes is inspired by the notion of ‘potential history.’ A form of being and thinking with others both living and past across time, using it to reactivate ideas, and counter the politics and poetics of memory. The exhibition refuses the position of historian; it loops, repeats, rewinds and forwards, acting as a conduit for shared ideas.

Alongside archival materials, the exhibition will include works by contemporary artists such as Larry Achiampong, Nika Autor, Alia Farid, KURS, Basim Magdy, and feature a small selection of works from The Art of Non-aligned Collection Laboratory, including works by Inji Aflatoun, Kareem Dabbah, Choukri Mesli and Khadeir Al Shakarji.

A series of exhibitions and research projects is based on the Southern Constellations: The Poetics of the Non-Aligned exhibition originally staged at Moderna galerija in Ljubljana in 2019. 

Image: Still: Sunny Railways, Nika Autor, 2023. Courtesy of the artist.

 

 
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