It is often said that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.* But what of the converse? Are those who only remember the past condemned to eschew the future?

The contemporary works on show in this exhibition, Backwards \ Forwards, are disparate in form and subject. Yet, on closer reflection, almost all of them pose questions about the past. Some hint at the hollowness of past glories, as in Alejandro Campins’ and Ryan Gander’s works. Guan Shi’s work recalls the attendant emotions of anticipation and anxiety in migration. While Danh Vo’s work harks back to a colonial past re-visited by the present. The intertwined history of neighbouring countries Malaysia and Singapore is examined by Shooshie Sulaiman in her work. And they are all punctuated by the trenchant visual and audio track of Tris Vonna-Michell’s work.

Collectively, these works, and the questions they provoke, speak about the past. Yet, Tomás Saraceno’s work, which the viewer encounters both when entering and exiting the gallery, is suggestive of the future and the colourful possibilities it promises.

This inaugural exhibition of Blank Canvas invites the viewer to consider the conundrum of how to look forward to the future while still looking back at the past. This query appears especially opposite given the sitting of the gallery in Georgetown, Penang, a UNESCO World Heritage site rich in its Peranakan and colonial past.

*This aphorism is often attributed to the Spanish philosopher George Santayana.