Imagining the End of Times
Apocalypse, Utopia, and Contemporary Art
by Nadia Osornio
In December 2023, the exhibition "Imagining the End of Time: Stories of Annihilation, Apocalypse, and Extinction" opened at the National Museum of Anthropology and History in Mexico City. Curated by the Käte Hamburger Centre for Apocalyptic and Postapocalyptic Studies at the University of Heidelberg and the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, the exhibition showcases stories and images depicting scenarios of annihilation, apocalypse, or extinction. To commemorate the opening, an accompanying academic conference was held on December 15th, featuring lectures by CAPAS Director Robert Folger and several former CAPAS Fellows. Nadia Osornio, a visual artist from Mexico City whose work explores the current climate crisis, shares her perspective on the event.
The academic event on December 15, 2023, as part of the exhibition, garnered considerable interest. Undoubtedly, all the presentations were very insightful and resonated with my artistic standpoint, which has focused on imaginaries and alternatives surrounding the current climate crisis for some years.
Adolfo Mantilla, the exhibition's curator and former CAPAS fellow, delivered a lecture titled "Imagining the End of Time," offering powerful insights into the distinction between the cosmophanic (experience of the cosmos), the cosmopoetic (creation of the cosmos), and the cosmopolitical (organization of the cosmos and reunion with the cosmophanic) and their correlation with art. Perspectives such as those of J. O'Gorman on human alteration of the ecosystem or the Tlaxcaltecan canvas recreated by E. Abaroa and M. Castillo Deball on the fading of Mexican hegemony were explored.
Robert Kirsch and Emily Ray, also former CAPAS fellows, cautioned against the dangers of bunkerization in pursuit of self-preservation within the American context, highlighting political implications and the incorporation of the apocalypse into the logic of consumption and spectacle.
Of particular significance to me was Dr. Robert Folger's presentation Images of a Palentology and Narratives of the End of Times which emphasized inter-species thinking and alerted to social injustices perpetuated for the benefit of business and government interests—a core issue in the climate crisis. His insights resonated deeply with my photographic series Beyond the Apocalyptic Chant which already addresses the devastation we cause daily on the planet, contextualized within my life in CDMX.
My approach from art history had already acquainted me with authors like Dipesh Chakrabarty and his call to reformulate humanities with a focus that recognizes diverse beings, not just humans. Dr. Folger's presentation rekindled this line of thought, along with his proposal of a post-extractivist world, as analyzed in works such as Scene of the Quaternary Period by J. Ma. Velasco, Humanity: Cancer of the Organic World by Juan O'Gorman, and my own work depicting a dystopian Zócalo, all included in the exhibition.
The notion of the apocalypse as a process of world-making, rather than merely its end, is another idea from Dr. Folger that deeply resonated with me. I related this concept to my photographic series "Seismic State," which portrays Mexico City enduring the aftermath of the 1985 earthquake yet remaining resilient.
From its inception, Beyond the Apocalyptic Chant aimed to distance itself from apocalyptic logic as mere catastrophe, often exploited by the cultural industry for economic gain, losing sight of the vulnerability of cultures and the possibility of reversing climate change through civil and political will. Therefore, I believe the utopian path holds the potential to redirect our actions, framing the apocalypse as a revelation—an aspect I incorporate into my art and embody as a global citizen.
Nadia Osornio is a visual artist from Mexico City. She obtained her PhD in Art from UNAM in 2021. In 2022, she won first place in the Professional Alternative Techniques category at the International Image Festival (FINI). Her individual exhibitions include "Conquista Visual" (José Clemente Orozco Gallery, 2019) and "Visicitudes del ver" (San Carlos Academy, 2014). She has participated in group exhibitions such as "Imaginar el fin de los tiempos" (Museo Nacional de Antropología, CDMX, 2023), "8vo. Festival de Fotografía Impresa" (Córdoba, Argentina, 2023), "Surveillance Society" (Rome, Italy, 2022), "4th Chania International Photo Festival" (Chania, Greece, 2021), "Empty Streets" (England, 2021), and "Nasty Women Mexico" (Mexico City, 2017), among others. Her work has been selected in several contests in Mexico and abroad and has been published by the Magazine of the University of Mexico in three of its issues. Since 2013, she has taught at UNAM and other art education institutions.
