2001: A Space Odyssey 3nd Screening [Exhibition and Talk]

The third and final screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey at Capitol Theatre also marked the last time my poster exhibition, The Ultimate Trip: 2001: A Space Odyssey in Posters, would be on display there.

Across the three screenings, one thing that encouraged me tremendously was seeing how people responded to the posters themselves. Some stopped to photograph them, while others took photographs with them. I overheard conversations sparked by particular designs, and had many wonderful exchanges with people curious about the posters, their histories, and the collection.

For me, this affirmed something I have long believed. There remains a real appetite for material culture, and for the physicality of cultural experiences.

A year ago, when I presented my The Future of Film is History series of talks, this was precisely what I had imagined. If cinema is to survive and thrive, perhaps part of its future lies in making it more than something we simply watch by creating spaces where people can encounter its history, objects, stories and one another. History, in that sense, is not separate from cinema’s present or future. It can actively enrich both.

Underlying this project was also something I brought home from my years living in the UK: a desire to see culture occupy a larger place in everyday life in Singapore, and for more people to feel that it belongs to them. I often think of the motto of Walthamstow, where I lived: “Welcome to the home of the people who make and create.” It is a spirit I hope, in some small way, to carry forward here.

And above all, I end these three weekends with gratitude.

Thank you to everyone who stopped, looked, asked questions, shared stories, or simply spent a few moments with the posters. My deepest thanks especially to Dr Ben Slater, curator of Classics at Capitol, for believing in the idea and giving me the opportunity to realise it, and to Mr András Bíró, General Manager of Capitol Kempinski, whose support was indispensable in making the programme possible.

The posters may have come down, but I hope the conversations around them continue somewhere beyond the infinite.