Exhibition Statement |
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Hope is an evasive phenomenon. For some it is a most harmful impairment, for others it is one of the highest human virtues. It is difficult to precisely define but seems to leave its imprints on every aspect of human life and practice. Some embrace the expression of hope as an innate human virtue that refuses to condone the suffering in this world, while others perceive it as an escapists’ inability to confront the realities of the world.
This exhibition examines the subject of hope by addressing some open-ended questions: What is the conscious experience of the phenomenon called hope? How is hope to be distinguished from belief and faith, promise and expectation, confidence and certainty, idealism and optimism? Does the absence of hope give rise to its opposite, the presence of anxiety, fear or despair? Is there a state of mind that is not confined to the polarity of hope and despair, hence surpasses them? How does the human experience of hope relate to other-than-human intelligence systems? What is hope’s relation to the present and future, activity and passivity, individuality and community? Does it impede one from undertaking the duties and challenges of the life-at-hand by its orientation towards a life-to-come? Is it a form of escapism to be eschewed or a power of transformation to be espoused? These and related questions are explored by the artists in this exhibition. |