Rooted in the Greek arkhē, “beginning, origin, first place”, the etymology of the word “archive” hints at its generative potential, not just as a repository of things used and forgotten, but as a dynamic process of contestation and dialogue where objects, media, and voices jostle for primacy.
Reflecting on the Asian Film Archive’s role in the collection, preservation, and exhibition of the moving image over the past 20 years, Matter Matters approaches the archive through an archaeological lens where material remnants are gathered and cared for, offering varied interpretations of what could have been.
Much as an archaeologist gathers the missing pieces, seeking to reconstitute bygone ways of life, so too do the exhibiting artists reconstruct lost film cultures via the archive. Through three artworks and one film programme that speculate on lost cinemas, Matter Matters uncovers fragmented memories and repressed histories. Multi-layered sites of material culture are revived through the third space of memory, which erupts somewhere between the past and the present.
Working in the lacunae of the archive, the artists challenge monolithic narratives, bringing to light alternative voices, be they feminist, leftist, or decolonial. Matter Matters is a celebration of the archive as a living seedbed of material culture, a place where we make meaning of untold stories, unruly objects and practices, and of unexpected, persistent patterns of kinship among people and things that matter.
Venue: Oldham Theatre, 1 Canning Rise, Singapore 179868
Entry is free
When: 31 Oct 2025 - 31 Jan 2026,
By: n/a
