Reverse

Futures

–

The

Future

Has

a

History

Each era envisions the future through the lens of its most transformative technologies. The nineteenth century dreamed in steam and industry, the twentieth century gazed toward nuclear power and space, and today, artificial intelligence, planetary computation, and algorithmic governance shape our visions of tomorrow. These stories promise progress through innovation, casting technology as an unstoppable force propelling humanity forward. Yet, they seldom admit that every technological future is rooted in specific histories, political economies, and power structures. Before we ask what the future holds, we must first ask: who gets to imagine it?

This question beats at the core of ‘Reverse Futures’, the final chapter in the Joburg Contemporary Art Foundation’s ‘Worldmaking’ trilogy. Though the exhibition seems to circle the techno-future, it quickly upends expectations. Rather than indulging in fantasies of artificial intelligence or digital utopias, curator Clive Kellner assembles artists who reveal the unseen assumptions beneath contemporary futurism. Here, technology becomes not the endpoint, but the springboard for a richer journey into knowledge, history, and imagination.

This shift distinguishes ‘Reverse Futures’ from typical technology exhibitions. Rather than asking what new technologies might achieve, it interrogates why technological innovation has become our dominant language for picturing the future. The exhibition argues that the true challenge lies not in what technology can accomplish, but in the narrow intellectual frameworks through which we define progress.