This Is What We Believe explores how faith and collective beliefs in relation to politico-economic apparatuses conjure imaginary, yet inherent, benchmarks for value—of space and time, people and things. These economic imaginaries are shaped in turn by tactics and rhetorics associated with the promulgation of belief systems and ideologies.
This exhibition takes its title from an utterance by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who, in response to a centrist-leaning suggestion at a policy meeting, reportedly slammed a copy of Friedrich Hayek’s The Constitution of Liberty on the table. Bringing together cultural histories and economic theologies, the exhibition draws from political and economic developments of the late 20th century—when financialisation and neoliberal policies began to proliferate globally—and select ritualistic practices for divine blessings of wealth and good fortune.
By examining the roles that faith, belief, and ideology play (and pray) in the creation of value and worth at a systemic level, the works in the exhibition are experiments of Chiu’s current research and artistic investigations, which probe and tease at the notion of a(n auspicious) visual culture for capital. A tongue-in-cheek overture of ideas both sacred and profane, This Is What We Believe invokes the timeless human struggle for meaning, survival, and shiny things that no others possess.
Venue: Goethe Institut Singapur, Goethe Lab, 136 Neil Road, Singapore 088865
When: 13 May - 3 Jun 2022,
