Origin stories are attempts to explain how the world came into being and where life and humanity originate. They reflect a culture’s worldview, form a moral compass, or serve as a framework for collective identity. Whoever tells how society began also reveals how that world and interpersonal relationships are represented. Thus, origin stories are always connected to ideas about power and identity.
They are not neutral truths, nor is there a single universal starting point. In Creation Myths and Other Beginnings, we focus specifically on non-dominant creation stories—stories passed down from generation to generation through oral culture, or conversely, on speculative, fictional alternatives. The artists depart from a multitude of origin stories: from cosmological narratives, religious stories, family histories, and colonial histories to personal memories. They openly question which ideas about ourselves are confirmed by these stories; who determines where that beginning lies, and who has access to it. The artists shift perspective and continue to speculate on a possible future. Together, they create a pluriverse and reveal not only the richness of stories but also how they have become intertwined (sometimes against their will) and how the ‘I’ is always connected to the ‘other’ within them.
Made possible with the support of:
Gemeente Den Haag
Mondriaan Fonds Zabawas
