Back to the Future – An Exhibition About Tomorrow
How do we communicate cultural heritage to future generations? Back to the Future is an art and research collaboration that explores this question. Based on research from the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures at Linnaeus University, the exhibition opened in October 2021.
Highlights of the exhibition
- How can we preserve heritage for the future?
- How do we warn civilisations 100,000 years ahead about dangers like radioactive waste?
- Artistic interpretations by Pernilla Frid, making complex research accessible.
- Interactive scenarios for Southern Öland’s World Heritage landscape, in partnership with Mörbylånga Municipality.
Wow – The book Wow! The Future is Calling!
The new book Wow! The Future is Calling! has now been released.
Text & illustrations: Pernilla Frid, Illustrator & Cornelius Holtorf, Professor of Archaeology and holder of the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures at Linnaeus University.
Wow! The Future is Calling! is a picture book emerging from Cornelius Holtorf’s long-standing research on the future in relation to cultural and natural heritage. When illustrator Pernilla Frid was invited, she was immediately drawn to working in this context with innovative concepts.
“We have borrowed a playful expression to tell this story,” says Pernilla Frid. “Being a ‘future-maker’ is a very interesting concept from an artistic perspective.”
Pernilla Frid not only created the illustrations but also developed the story in close dialogue with Cornelius Holtorf.
“In an academic context, it is unusual to communicate in playful forms,” says Cornelius Holtorf.
The aim is to convey the diversity and richness with which we can engage with the future. The book provides many examples, both through the actions of the main characters—representing three different approaches to the future—and through the many details surrounding them.
Both Pernilla and Cornelius are very pleased with the result.
“It was a highly rewarding meeting between art and science, and we hope there will be more such collaborations in the future.”