a.topos Venice for the second edition of THE CREATIVE ROOM, invited artists to dedicate their art to the theme "The Future of Art and the Art of the Future".

For almost two years, the majority of the world’s population was unable to attend any exhibition in a physical space. This new reality was unsurprisingly accompanied by an intense discussion around some of the hottest topics of the period in the art scene - is the virtual realm better than real-world exhibitions? Will digital replace experiencing a show live? Are we witnessing the establishment of a new normal, with the rise of new media hegemony in artistic practice?

Many extensive debates, strained relationships, repetitive arguments and, most of all, many, many, many online exhibitions after, we can take a deep breath and admit that - besides its undeniable contribution to the democratization of Art - virtual is definitely better than nothing. Hopefully, we can also foresee an art scene where both, digital and real, can, if not live happily ever after, at least find a way to peacefully (and in a mutually beneficial way) cohabit. After so much time apart, it’s nice to explore the possibility of encounters. ‘Utopia,Dystopia’ and ‘Retrotopia’ are two of them.

The artworks gathered here are an array of different interpretations about the future, converging into an enlarged horizon of expectation; an immersion in a compelling mixture between optimistic prognosis, cynical readings of the future and a nostalgic dive into a longing - either experienced or idealized - past.

Opening the narrative, the first show, ‘Utopia, Dystopia’, harvests works of art offering either utopic sceneries or gateways to a dystopian tomorrow. The audience is presented with an exhibition path that creates visual and sound spaces shifting between an invitation to sail together instead of adrift and evidence of the burden of times to come.

In the second exhibit, ‘Retrotopia’, a world struck by an appalling pandemic and an art scene flooded with NTFs as backdrop brings past and future to walk sideways in what Zigmund Bauman defined as retrotopia.

Either through form, content or both, the displayed artworks depict a strive to (re)establish a mythified - even if unfaithful - past. And in case nostalgically revisiting a longing time does not chase uncertainty away, art can at least attempt righteous grief.