From the Egyptians believing in eternal life to flying cars and jetpacks; humans have always been keen on dreaming about the future. While some predictions have become reality, others still remain a fantasy. We don’t own jetpacks yet after all. As we follow the trail of technological teases and wild expectations, we encounter yesteryear's utopian (and dystopian!) visions about today.
The world's first major exhibition about yesterday's future
If you really want to change the present, you have to look ahead, into the future. Changes and innovation are set in motion by people who believe that the world can be better or different. They are the artists, architects, designers, scientists and thinkers that make tangible what others do not yet see. What can we learn from yesterday's future visions? Over 50.000 tickets sold.
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Future thinkers, artists, designers, scientists, architects and thinkers make tangible what others do not yet see. Changes and innovation are set in motion by people who believe that the world can be not only different, but better.
From Da Vinci's dream of flying, to a Space Age Jetpack. To Nostradamus predictions of the end of the Earth, to the Egyptians desire of eternal life. In ten tunnels full of fiction and facts, we take you along the visions of yesterday. The idealists and the doomsayers, the scientists and the dreamers. Which dreams have come true, and which have remained science fiction?
Are we building castles in the air or flying like birds? Will we never work again? Travel into the unknown? Will we achieve eternal life or find paradise on Earth?
RetroFuture invites you to travel to the future of yesterday. In a futuristic building with 3,000 square meters of exhibition space, the visitor is transported to a journey across time through design, art, science and film. The serpentine rings of the iconic Evoluon will take you to a journey across time. How do you imagine humanity will live, work, travel, and communicate in the distant future?
Although it’s impossible to predict the future, we can certainly imagine what it might be like. In the RetroFuture Funfair, you can buy algae treats from a snack machine, take a ride to the distant future on the VR time machine, shoot at donor organs, swim like a virtual fish, or create a deepfake of yourself. What dreams will turn to nightmares in the haunted house of the future?
Join us on an expedition through today’s futures and allow yourself to be swept away by feelings of nostalgia. With work by Studio Drift, Maison de Faux & Esmay Wagemans, Driessens & Verstappen, Audrey Large, Tabita Rezaire, Michael Mandiberg and Studio Smack.
Visit the RetroFuture exhibition at the Evoluon in Eindhoven.
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