Holding Cosmic Dust. A matriarchal history through future objects 

Hot Desque at the Corinium Museum, Cirencester, UK

20th January - 19th March 2024

Holding Cosmic Dust, an exhibition intervention staged by Hot Desque showcases contemporary artworks by women and female-identifying artists amongst the permanent collection of locally found archaeological artefacts at the Corinium Museum. The project draws out connections between archaeology, history and fantasy.

Holding Cosmic Dust brings together artworks by Holly Graham, Rubie Green, Rebeca Romero, Amba Sayal-Bennett, Abel Shah and Suzanne Treister. The constellation of objects scattered throughout the museum acts as remnants of a speculative, matriarchal society which inhabited the same area at an unspecified time. The sculptures, drawings and sound pieces each carry their own story adding to the overall narrative. Together, they evoke lost culture, traditions and beliefs but are mysterious in their function and provenance. The objects are accompanied by a video almanac which adds another layer to the speculative framework and explores the potential meaning of the objects through digital reconstruction. All elements of Holding Cosmic Dust subtly suggest the potential values of a cosmo-centric civilisation attuned to their surroundings, occupied with ritual, art-making and a curiosity for the universe. 

Hot Desque’s worldbuilding practice explores alternatives to the linear understanding of past, present and future. The artworks juxtaposed with archaeological artefacts confront historical biases in scientific inquiries, suggesting the possibility of matriarchal societies in both the past and the future. The exhibition questions how knowledge is made or verified, and the role fantasy plays in these processes. But instead of suggesting categorical narratives, it emphasizes connections between multiple timescales at once and the role of the human hand in shaping stories. Humanity’s relationship to the past extends to the geological deep time, our species’ impact is questioned on planetary, and ecological scales and extinctions are not only a thing of the past but also the present and the future. 

With Holding Cosmic Dust, Hot Desque expands its ongoing exploration of alternative forms of curation. In this exhibition intervention, the visitors of the permanent, collection at the Corinium Museum will come across the contemporary artworks gradually, brought together within an overarching speculative framework. They do not impose a singular narrative, encouraging the visitors to fill in its gaps and reimagine possible past, present and futures through individual artworks.

Participating artists: Holly Graham, Rubie Green, Rebeca Romero, Amba Sayal-Bennett, Abel Shah and Suzanne Treister. 

Holding Cosmic Dust is supported by The Corinium Museum, Arts Council England, The Swiss Church, Hypha Studios and Woodlands UK. 

A wider project is delivered in collaboration with Peckham Levels, Step Out Mentoring, Lab Gloucestershire Library and Cirencester Bingham Library.