Today, art is increasingly getting interested in issues of power, history, and representation. Where Opacity Holds the Light brings all these aspects together in an attempt to articulate ways in which uncertainty, transformation, and imagination can be utilized to rethink institutions and cultural narratives. This exhibition was showcased at Framer Framed and depicts the new focus of art spaces in dealing with colonial histories and social realities.
The concept of “opacity” is a key consideration here. Rather than expecting things to be made completely transparent or easily understood, opacity allows for complexity to be present in a non-simplified form. Within a framework of opacity, everything does not have to be understood and defined. Ambiguity becomes a tool to counter mainstream histories and definitions. Opacity is a territory where alternate history and views can be constructed.
Shapeshifting materializes as both a visual and conceptual strategy. It acts like fluid identities, ever-changing forms, and the refusal to stay put. Often, artists working within this approach tend to resist rigid definitions of culture, race, and belonging. Their working practice moves across mediums, disciplines, and ideas, to mediate experiences of migration, hybridity, displacement.
The other important component is decolonial imagination, where artists and institutions are encouraged to move beyond the colonial thinking that defined the collecting, exhibiting, and interpretation of artwork. Through speculation and reflection, decolonial practices envision a future that is not defined by the need for hierarchy in inheritance; it is a place where artwork can question power and rewrite history.
Reimagining Institutions Through Artistic Practice
Institutional Transformation is the underlying theme as it seeks to question conventions instead of exhibiting art as neutral or isolated. This exhibition regards institutions as active participants in meaning production instead of viewing them as neutral or disconnected. This is reflected in the fact that Framer Framed puts itself into a position where it tries to question itself.
This exhibition prefers dialogue over the formulation of any conclusion. Short texts, installations, and arrangements prompt the viewer to dwell in the realm of uncertainty for some time. Not only that, but this method of artistic expression encourages the viewer to take part actively, as opposed to consuming the art passive.
Smaller but deliberate choices made by the curatorial team support this experience. Artworks are displayed in a manner that focuses on process, voice, and context instead of visibility. This contributes to a deliberative experience with the themes of transformation and resistance being explored. Also, the exhibition resists big narratives in favor of a conversation.
The community and collaboration also influence the direction of the project. There is a positioning of artists, curators, and audience as participants in a dialogue process. The approach is a post-authoritative model of shared responsibility in relation to cultural production. The institutions become academies of knowledge as opposed to centers of control.
Ultimately, Where Opacity Holds the Light seems to posit that meaningful changes do not happen with quick fixes. It flowers out of openness, complexity, and the ability to sit with discomfort. Through adopting changing shapes of identity, decolonial imagination, and institutional self-reflection, the project takes an indication toward more inclusive and responsive cultural spaces.
