Raqs Media Collective: Passwords for Time Travel
In association with its pre-launch programming, Remai Modern invited artists to realize original projects exclusively for online viewing. Through these commissions, the museum considered its website as an extension of its physical space and onsite program. Mobile and experimental, this online gallery allowed for direct, personal encounters with art while connecting artists and audiences across the globe.
From 2016-2020, the museum presented projects by: Ryan Gander, Tammi Campbell, Tanya Lukin Linklater, Thomas Hirschhorn, Taysir Batniji, Pedro Barateiro, Kara Uzleman, Rosa Barba, Amanda Beech, Ellen Moffat, Duane Linklater, Lynne Marsh, Raqs Media Collective, Ahlam Shibli, Ann Lislegaard, Anton Vidokly, Dave McKenzie, Laakkuluk Williamson-Bathory and Kelly Nipper.
Passwords for Time Travel proposes a set of new terms that anticipate and rehearse conversations with the near and distant future in a form that combines the enigma of a spell with the precision of a dictionary entry. The unexpected lexical combinations are presented along with images that elaborate upon the multiple meanings of the texts.
The Raqs Media Collective was founded in 1992 by Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula, and Shuddhabrata Sengupta. The collective has been variously described as artists, media practitioners, curators, researchers, editors, and catalysts of cultural processes. Their work, which has been exhibited widely in major international spaces, locates them in the intersections of contemporary art, historical enquiry, philosophical speculation, research, and theory. Raqs Media Collective is based in New Delhi, India and the members remain closely involved with the Sarai program at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, an initiative they co-founded in 2000.