Joshua Serafin is currently developing a new cosmos of work. Through research and commissioned work, both in the performing and the visual arts, they will search for the foundation of this new universe.

They are in search of their own lost ancestors and open up questions about ancestry and lost histories in general. What does this disruption incited by migration, voluntarily or involuntarily, mean for bloodlines and our sense of self? What does this genealogical violence lead to? Can we truly know ourselves when we lose touch with our ancestry? And how do we reconnect with these ancient narratives when dominant history has always undervalued them?

Rockbund Art Museum (Shanghai, CN) / Relics – An Eye Once Blind

Relics will be the first exercise within the performative exploration of Lost Ancestors. Through a residency at Rockbund Art Museum, Joshua Serafin will tackle questions of Filipino identity and exploited kindness through submission. They start from the idea of lost weaponry, a denied access to artifacts, and a need to adapt to imposed power structures. To take the weapon from a warrior ostensibly lessens violence, but what if this weapon was used to defend indigenous lands? How can one be reconciled with a history when ancient artifacts are tucked away in overseas musea? Through these feelings of loss and absence, Joshua studies how the body is weaponized and perceived through a lense of phantasmagoric worldmaking.

Date: 30/03/2025

HORST – Arts & Music Festival (Vilvoorde, BE) / Buried in a coffin the size of a grain of rice

Buried in a coffin the size of a grain of rice is a performative space where the spectator becomes the protagonist, while a sculptural guardian-like figure watches over an unborn entity amid a staged swamp. This installation invites the audience to reenter their body. It is a space of meditation, prayer, of silence and offering. The space invites the audience to be transported to an in-between realm, where darkness is embraced to discover the first rays of light. Joshua creates a portal to connect the ancestral with the mortal world, to allow entities to watch over our current mortal realm and to offer guidance to those willing to receive it.

Dates: Vernissage 1/05/2025, exhibition until 7/09/2025

Centro de Creación Contemporánea de Andalucía C3A (Córdoba, ES) / Exhibition

Joshua is developing a solo exhibition in which previously developed sculptures will be featured alongside new material, all within the realm of Lost Ancestors. The exhibition is set to open on 28 February 2025.