The Substance With Which The Future Is Made is the inaugural video art programme at Alserkal Avenue.

Displayed outdoors on a large LED screen in The Yard after sunset, the series is curated by Mari Spirito, Executive Director and Curator of Protocinema, and features works by Abbas Akhavan, Liu Chuang, Aylan Couchie, Alice Gosti, Anahita Norouzi, Anahita Razmi, Atalay Yavuz, and Cansu Yıldıran.

Rooted in the words of Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh, who famously said, “The present moment is the substance with which the future is made,” the exhibition reflects on how the human mind often escapes pain by clinging to the past or projecting into the future, leaving the present behind. While this is an understandable response, it is in the present moment where our greatest capacity for action resides.

With each work running for two weeks, these video pieces explore the fragile yet powerful essence of presence as an essential part of building just and compassionate spaces to live. In the face of persistent, growing global violence—unbearable and inescapable—these artworks invite us to reflect on the act of being present as both a small yet vital response to our shared human experience and a crucial part of the fight for human rights.

The Substance With Which The Future Is Made seeks to ground us in the current moment—to face the horror and loss of today—so that we may continue to protect and build the homes we call our own.