Tomás Saraceno Returns to the Past to Envision a More Just Future

Tomás Saraceno, a renowned Argentine-born artist based in Berlin, returns to the theme of interconnectedness in his latest solo exhibition, Ancestral Futures, at Haus der Kunst in Munich. The exhibition spans two decades of his work, emphasizing the importance of past knowledge in envisioning a just future.

Central to Saraceno's practice is the spider and its web, used as a metaphor for the intricate networks that sustain life. In Ancestral Futures, visitors are invited to explore these connections firsthand through interactive installations and participatory projects. A decade-long series, Webs of At-tent(s)ion, features real spiders weaving their webs inside museum boxes, while an immersive cavern made of crowd-sourced plastic bags inflates with the help of visitors riding stationary bicycles, highlighting the human impact on the environment.

A standout feature of the exhibition is Saraceno's collaboration with Indigenous communities of Red Atacama in northwestern Argentina. Here, eleven local weavers have donated their handmade blankets, displayed as a vibrant, tactile space for visitors to lounge in. This collaboration is part of their larger project, The Sanctuary of Water, which aims to resist lithium mining in one of the world's largest lithium-rich regions, drawing attention to the ongoing legacy of colonial exploitation.

The exhibition also features a large reflective pond that captures the sky above, blurring the lines between land and air. Saraceno and the people of Salinas Grandes believe that Pacha, their worldview, is a single living body sustained by the water flowing through it. Ancestral Futures, which runs until February 7, offers a thought-provoking exploration of our interconnectedness with the natural world and the importance of preserving these bonds for a just future.