The Future Rewound and the Cabinet of Souls

Now a gallery space and bookshop, the Mosaic Rooms in London resides in a building which, more than a century ago, served as a home to Imre Kiralfy, a Hugarian well-known for staging large, theatrical spectacles for such celebrations as the World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. In his later life, Kiralfy brought curiosities from all parts of the British Empire to London, where the Victorian public was eager to view them. The Future Rewound and the Cabinet of Souls records an exhibition of the same name by artist Nadia Kaabi-Linke held at the Mosaic rooms. The art in the exhibition was inspired by Kiralfy, and it reflects on the structures of power that thread colonialism and capitalism and the observed and observer. In addition to documenting Kaabi-Linke’s site-specific works, the book features a dialogue between Kaabi-Linke, curator and art critic Timo Kaabi-Linke, and cultural scientist Falko Schmieder, which puts the work in context and offers fascinating insight into research-based artistic practices.