Hope is not the belief that everything was, is, or will be fine. The evidence of tremendous suffering and destruction is all around us. The hope we focus on is about broad perspectives with specific possibilities, ones that invite or demand that we act. It is not a sunny everything-is-getting-better narrative but a counter to the everything-is-getting-worse narrative. It embraces complexities and uncertainties with openings. As Bulgarian writer Maria Popova remarked, “Critical thinking without hope is cynicism, but hope without critical thinking is naivete.”

(Rebecca Solnit, Hope in the dark)

Seeds for the future

With the exhibition RE:FWD: A reply to the present, a forward to us all (formerly No time to despair), three young co-curators Caithlin Courtney Chong, Thierno Deme and Mees Elias van Zanten attempt to plant seeds for a hopeful future. They want the public to mourn the past, inspire them to make adjustments in the present or imagine innovative future scenarios.

The exhibition presents work by artists under the age of 35. Not because they are the only “emerging” or “underrepresented” artists, but because of the way younger generations are affected by a specific constellation of crises. The weight of these realities shapes their present and their future. Caithlin, Thierno and Mees Elias, as curators of that same generation, enter into a dialogue with young fellow artists who are experiencing the same struggles and hopes. From the belief that this is a crucial moment to understand how young people imagine hope and transformation.

Participating artists

The exhibition RE: FWD shows the work of 21 different artists. Together they reflect on hope, the future, transformation and their part in it. Ahmad Mallah, Augustina Lavickaite, Charmaine de Heij, Chongjin Chen, Clinton Kabena, Cristal De La Cruz, Daeun Lim, Davitha van de Kuilen, Elena Zecchin, Ellen Yiu, Emmy van de Grift, Hodan Omar Elmi, Karmel Sabri, Lorena Rode, Marc Paulusma, Marian Genet, Qiaochu Guo, Rebecca Lillich Krüger, SasaHara Ghanem-Chaney, Simon Pillaud and Yang-ha, together with the curators, take on the challenge of letting the audience leave the exhibition conscious, hopeful and activated.