I Still Dream of Lost Vocabularies

This major group exhibition examines how photographs can be deconstructed and reassembled through the idea of collage, offering new perspectives on complex histories and contested social realities. With deep roots in activism and artistic experimentation, photomontage has a rich legacy as a powerful tool for artists engaging with experiences of political dissent and erasure. Its possibilities are amplified by the relentless evolution of photography - a medium shaped by technological advancement and the shifting politics of representation.

From cut paper to generative AI, more than 90 works by 12 contemporary artists use collage as both method and metaphor, highlighting the fragility of photographic ‘truth’ and the archives that hold it. Sabrina Tirvengadum uses an AI model she trained on family photographs to reconstruct a fractured history shaped by the legacy of indentured labour in Mauritius; Sunil Gupta’s digital collages from the 1990s navigate the intersections of queer identity and diasporic experience; and Qualeasha Wood transforms self-portraits into tapestries that reflect on bodily autonomy and the pressures of internet culture. Jess Atieno troubles colonial archives in East Africa to explore how histories can be restitched into counter-narratives, while Sheida Soleimani creates layered tableaux that link political exile from Iran with the care of injured migratory birds.As we reflect on the future of image-making, I Still Dream of Lost Vocabularies resists completeness, questioning whether constructed images can stand in for disputed – and often entangled – narratives when words fail. 

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ARTISTS

Arpita Akhanda, Brook Andrew, Jess Atieno, Wendimagegn Belete, Sim Chi Yin, Sunil Gupta, Reena Saini Kallat, Henna Nadeem, Sheida Soleimani, Sabrina Tirvengadum, Thato Toeba, and Qualeasha Wood

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