The Great Imagination. Histories of the Future

Each era has had its own vision of the future which, to a large extent, has been conditioned by the environment that feeds it. This exhibition aims to offer a reflection upon the future. We seek to understand how we used to see the future in the past and explain why. 

From today´s most popular TV series, to the latest films, literature and even advertising, our culture is full of images of the future. Many of them seem fascinating to us, although the majority are merely current versions of ideas that we have held for over a century. Each era has had its own vision of the future which, to a large extent, has been conditioned by the environment that feeds it. This exhibition aims to offer a reflection upon the future. We seek to understand how we used to see the future in the past and explain why.  To understand how those ideas continue to determine the way we imagine and rethink futures today, from the needs of a world  haunted by the spectre of global crises such as climate change.

Have we always imagined futures that are so radically different as we do today? How has our idea of the future changed at different moments throughout history? What impact have these ideas had on the development of our societies? How do these images appear and evolve, and what role do imagination and creativity play in the dreaming up of possible futures? The Great Imagination. Histories of the Future explores the possible answers to all these questions, offering visitors a journey through images and fictions from different periods that all stemmed from the desire to venture what the future might look like. Through literature and comics, cinema and advertising, architecture and design, the exhibition presents projects ranging from the first utopias to the most modern speculations, passing through the whole imaginary that has evolved since the Industrial Revolution and which continues to captivate us. It is a journey that sets off from the 17th century and ends in 2050 with the forecasts of radically different worlds that their creators imagine for the future.

Wanneer
3 November 2021 to 17 April 2022
Waar
Espacio Fundación Telefónica
C/ Fuencarral, 3
28004 Madrid, Spanje
Organisator
Espacio Fundación Telefónica
Link
espacio.fundaciontelefonica.com

Magazine