Visitors can look forward to getting their tickets to Mars as ArtScience Museum counts down to the launch of its final exhibition to round up the year – Mars: The Red Mirror.
Making its Asian premiere on 25 November, this exhibition synthesizes 12,000 years of cultural history surrounding Mars through art, history, and science, from ancient times to the present day.
The exhibition comes at a significant moment in history where humanity’s enduring connection to the Red Planet has culminated in three active rover missions on Mars.
At the same time, space agencies around the world, as well as private space companies such as SpaceX, are actively planning missions that may take people to Mars for the first time. Mars: The Red Mirror taps intothis enduring allure of the planet.
Presented by ArtScience Museum and the Centre of Contemporary Culture Barcelona (CCCB) and curated by Juan Insua, Mars: The Red Mirror weaves together enthralling narratives from pioneering scientists, modern day experts, filmmakers, writers, and contemporary artists.
With Mars having come to serve as a mirror, metaphor, and source of inspiration for humanity, the exhibition examines depictions of Mars throughout history and across cultures, from ancient Greece to Asia. It charts scientific discoveries relating to the planet and its moons, and investigates the portrayal of Mars in science fiction.
It features over 300 objects, including rare scientific manuscripts, sculptures, historical artefacts, films, contemporary artworks, and even an authentic Martian meteorite.
First shown in Barcelona in 2021, this new version of Mars: The Red Mirror will also turn its lens to Asia – from tracing Mars’ ancient imprints in China, India, and Japan, and celebrating the legacy of pioneering Asian astronomers, to providing a glimpse into Mars’ portrayal in Southeast Asian pop culture with a rare collection of 50 unique Indonesian comics.
Meanwhile, contemporary art by Asian artists will explore the hopes and challenges of humanity’s planetary pursuits.
Additionally, Mars: The Red Mirror also features Singapore’s own Space Faculty, which champions space technology’s transformative potential in the region as it posits the space sector as holding the key to innovation across climate technology, life sciences, and big data.
Unfolding across three main sections, Mars: The Red Mirror takes its design and structure from science fiction – specifically the Mars trilogy, a series of science fiction novels by Kim Stanley Robinson that chronicle the settlement and terraforming of Mars.
The three novels Red Mars (1992), Green Mars (1993), and Blue Mars (1996) feature in the exhibition and provide theinspiration for the design of the show.
“This November, ArtScience Museum is taking visitors on a trip to Mars. It has fascinated humanity for millennia, having captured our imagination like no other planet. This exhibition invites us on an expedition through history and across cultures to learn how our neighbouring planet has been seen and understood through time.”
“Seamlessly combining art, science, literature, archeology, pop culture and technology, the show encourages a cross-disciplinary contemplation of the Red Planet. Mars: The Red Mirror is also the second major exhibition in ArtScience Museum’s new season of science fiction which launched recently with New Eden.”
“It demonstrates how science fiction has shaped our Martian dreams, seeding many of the fantasies we have about travelling to Mars.”
“But the show poses some crucial questions: with the ecological problems onour own planet, should we really be looking to settle on another? Do we seek Mars as an escape, or as a mirror reflecting the challenges we must address here on Earth?” said VicePresident of ArtScience Museum, Honor Harger.
Curator of the exhibition Juan Insua, added: “Mars: The Red Mirror traces the cultural history of a planet that has been closely intertwined with Earth since the creation of the solar system.”
“Mirroring our evolution as a species in the last 12,000 years, Mars has adopted many forms and representations across time and cultures – it is the red star and God of War, as well as the favourite planet depicted in science fiction.”
“Perhaps our captivation with Mars is because it serves as a reflection of ourselves: as a planet where life may have existed, or one where we could set up a new life in the future.”
“This exhibition presented at ArtScience Museum is an adaptation of the one showcased at CCCB in 2021, and it has been further refined with the exquisite contribution of the Museum’s curatorial team.”
“I hope that visitors will enjoy this trip – one that is not only strange and fascinating, but also presents us with great learning opportunities during this crucial moment in time where we must prioritize the only home we currently live in: Planet Earth.”
Tickets are available for purchase at all Marina Bay Sands box offices and online. It is recommended that guests pre-purchase tickets online in advance due to limited capacity and timed entry of the exhibition.
For more information on Mars: The Red Mirror please visit https://www.marinabaysands.com/museum/exhibitions/mars.html