The Future Is Now: World Premiere Exhibition. The Future & Other Fictions Now Open At ACMI
28 November 2024
From Blade Runner 2049 to Björk, first knowledges to sci-fi renegades, see how the future is formed onscreen at world premiere exhibition The Future & Other Fictions, now open at ACMI until 27 April 2025.
Co-curated by ACMI’s Amanda Haskard (Gunai/Kurnai) and Chelsey O’Brien, and director, artist, and futurist Liam Young, the exhibition celebrates screen culture’s role in shaping a more optimistic world.
A suite of complementary public programs including film screenings, an immersive weekend festival, industry symposiums, and a choose-your-own-adventure game that allows participants to craft their own film plot, will also transport visitors to the future and beyond this summer.
Showcasing the craft of visionary creatives from film, videogames, and screen-based art, The Future & Other Fictions features more than 180 artworks, sets, props, scripts, clips, costumes, and original design materials on display.
See Academy Award-winning costumes from Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; miniature sets from director Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi blockbuster Blade Runner 2049; concept art depicting the cityscapes of Cyberpunk 2077 and The Creator; Björk’s otherworldly dress and headpiece from mesmerising music video The Gate; original sketches from First Nations comic series NEOMAD; the Afrofuturistic imaginings of artist Olalekan Jeyifous; the fashion activism of Tāgata Moana art collective Pacific Sisters.
Two new moving image commissions encourage us to rethink what we know. Set on a planet yet to experience its first sunrise, Queensland-based artist Hannah Brontë explores the cyclical nature of life in Birth of Dawn. Designed and directed by Liam Young and written and narrated by Ngarrindjeri, Narungga, Kaurna and Noongar actress Natasha Wanganeen (Rabbit-Proof Fence, Limbo), After the End charts a hopeful tomorrow in which fossil fuels are banned, and communities return to rewild and rebuild the landscape.
ACMI Director & CEO Seb Chan said: “Film, TV, videogames and art spark our imagination and help shift our thinking about how the future might, or should, be. The crafts of screen culture – visual effects, costume design, character creation and model building – are powerful tools that bring future visions to life. The Future & Other Fictions asks us to consider some of the worlds we’re familiar with and imagine the worlds we’d like to see.”
Exhibition Co-Curator Liam Young said: “For thousands of years cultures have shared ideas through storytelling. It is an extraordinary common language. I hope a key takeaway of the exhibition is the importance of sharing stories about the futures we want to live in – be they greener, more sustainable, more harmonious or more diverse. Stories are products of culture and in turn produce it. As we write stories, we write the world.”
Minister for Creative Industries Colin Brooks said: “Now open at ACMI, The Future & Other Fictions takes us on a fun, behind-the-scenes journey to discover the many ways the future is depicted on screen – from the quirky, futuristic world of Björk and sci-fi blockbuster Blade Runner 2049, to new screen works by Australian creatives. The Allan Labor Government is proud to back this exhibition which is part of Melbourne’s action-packed creative offering this summer.”
ACMI brings the future further into focus this summer, with a packed season of programming that celebrates visionary screen creators and aims to nurture the next generation of makers:
- Create your own sci-fi movie masterpiece while navigating the pitfalls of film production in free, text-based, choose-your-own-adventure game INT. SPACESHIP – NIGHT. Created by Nathan Harrison and Jordan Prosser of Boho Interactive, this new multiple-choice role-playing game is now playable until 27 April 2025. Drawing inspiration from ACMI’s exhibitions, it puts you and your friends at the writer’s table. Will you create a billion-dollar blockbuster or a well-intentioned flop? Scan the QR code in ACMI’s foyer to get started.
- Artistic chameleon Björk is the focus of a film season at ACMI Cinemas, now showing until 16 December 2024. From her acting debut in bewitching folklore drama The Juniper Tree (1990) to her award-winning role in the Palme d'Or decorated Dancer in the Dark (2000) and more recent foraging adventure in documentary Fungi: Web of Life (2023), Focus on Björk celebrates Björk’s many talents as a musician, actor and artistic collaborator.
- Dive deeper into tomorrow with a thought-provoking weekend of ticketed talks, performances and screenings 15 – 16 February 2025. Packed with insight and imagination plus Australian and international guests, The Future & Beyond will canvas our evolving relationship with artificial intelligence, journey through cyberpunk landscapes, celebrate groundbreaking music and explore pop culture predictions.
- ACMI’s annual symposium exploring the future of arts, culture, and technology returns 12 – 14 February 2025. Now in its third year, FACT 2025 is aimed at cultural leaders, policy makers, creatives and academics. A catalyst for conversations, it draws together disparate ideas that shape how we think, imagine and shape our futures.
- Discover the future of Australian cinema 20 – 23 February 2025, with a four-day film program showcasing fresh new talent and bold short-form stories. Short Film Visions brings together an eclectic mix of short films that challenge, inspire and push the boundaries of storytelling.
- Animation buffs can take an exclusive behind-the-scenes peek at Australia’s top studios on 5 December 2024, at a symposium presented by ACMI and the acclaimed Ludo Studio (Bluey, The Strange Chores). Animation Utopia will bring together aspiring and established talent to network, share advice and explore industry trends.
- Peel back the curtains on videogame development on 26 February 2025, at Future of Videogames: a showcase of emerging developers. Hear more about the creative practice and processes of the industry’s rising stars, as they share their journeys since winning the ACMI + RMIT Games Prize.
The Future & Other Fictions is proudly supported by Major Exhibition Partner Art Processors, Major Technology Partner Panasonic, and Supporting Partners FiberArt, ShowTex and Sofitel Melbourne On Collins.
Thanks to Haymes Paint for generously providing the Ultra Premium Eggshell paint featured in The Future & Other Fictions.
The Future & Other Fictions is now open until 27 April 2025 in ACMI’s Gallery 4. Tickets from $10. To book visit acmi.net.au.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
- Images, GIFs and video files are available to download here.
- For further media enquiries please contact media@acmi.net.au.
Listings Information
28 November 2024 – 27 April 2025
Gallery 4, ACMI, Fed Square, Melbourne
Tickets: Full $22.50, Under 35s $18, Concession $15, ACMI Member $13, Child (4–15) $10, Under 4 and Blak Members FREE.
INT. SPACESHIP – NIGHT
28 November 2024 – 27 April 2025
ACMI Foyer, ACMI, Fed Square, Melbourne
Tickets: FREE
28 November – 16 December 2024
ACMI Cinemas, ACMI, Fed Square, Melbourne
Tickets: Full $20, Concession $16, ACMI Member $14. Multi-session passes are available.
The Future & Beyond
15 – 16 February 2025
ACMI Cinemas, ACMI, Fed Square, Melbourne
Tickets: The Future & Beyond includes FREE and ticketed events, with prices from $20 and discounts for Concession and ACMI Members.
Future of Arts, Culture & Technology Symposium (FACT 2025)
12 – 14 February 2025
ACMI Cinemas & Swinburne Studio, ACMI, Fed Square, Melbourne
Tickets: Tickets: Early Bird $165 (until 16 December), Full $198.
Short Film Visions
20 – 23 February 2025
ACMI Cinemas, ACMI, Fed Square, Melbourne
Tickets: Full $20, Concession $16, ACMI Member $14. Multi-session passes are available.
Animation Utopia
5 December 2024
ACMI Cinemas, ACMI, Fed Square, Melbourne
Tickets: Full $60, ACMI Member / Student $50
Future of Videogames: A Showcase of Emerging Developers
26 February 2025
Gandel Digital Future Lab 1, ACMI, Fed Square, Melbourne
Tickets: FREE (registration required)
ABOUT ACMI
ACMI is your museum of screen culture. Watch, play, make and discover the universe of screen-based art, films, TV and videogames. Visit us in Melbourne’s Fed Square, online and on tour. Our museum attracts millions of visitors through a vibrant offer of exhibitions, screenings, commissions and festivals. ACMI’s industry, education and creative incubator programs inspire and develop the next generation of screen creatives. We are a globally recognised hub that connects people, communities, technology and ideas to shape our futures. More at acmi.net.au.
ABOUT LIAM YOUNG
Liam Young is a designer, director and BAFTA-nominated producer who operates in the spaces between design, fiction and futures. Described by the BBC as “the man designing our futures”, his visionary films and speculative worlds are both extraordinary images of tomorrow and urgent examinations of the environmental questions facing us today. As a world-builder he visualises the cities, spaces and props of our imaginary futures for the film and television industry and with his own films he has premiered with platforms ranging from Channel 4, Apple+, SxSW, Tribeca, the New York Metropolitan Museum, The Royal Academy, Venice Biennale, the BBC and the Guardian. His films have been collected internationally by museums such as the New York Met, Art Institute of Chicago, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Gallery of Victoria and M Plus Hong Kong and has been acclaimed in both mainstream and design media including features with TED, Wired, New Scientist, Arte, Canal+, Time magazine and many more. His film work is informed by his academic research and has held guest professorships at Princeton University, MIT, and Cambridge and now runs the groundbreaking Masters in Fiction and Entertainment at SCI Arc in Los Angeles. He has published several books including the recent Machine Landscapes: Architectures of the Post Anthropocene and Planet City, a story of a fictional city for the entire population of the earth. More at liamyoung.org