Science fiction is not a modern invention. Nor is it descendant from Frank Herbert, Jonathan Swift, or some other White Genius. This set of images highlights a sliver of the brilliance and beauty of Asian imagination and artistry across six centuries.

These cultural materials contain concepts central to present-day sci-fi and fantasy, such as the cosmos (or outer space), eternal life (immortality), magical and mythical creatures and deities (a.k.a. extraterrestrial and synthetic life), astrology and divinations (otherwise known as predictions of the future), and the apocalypse. Formatted as virtual backdrops for my touring multimedia performance Asian futures, without Asians, they can be downloaded for use as your own Zoom backdrop or desktop wallpaper, and printed out as a physical backdrop for your office, bedroom, or wherever.

The Spring 2023 issue of X-TRA features this project as a set of pull-out posters as part of the Artist’s Project series.

1. Or Tibetan 114 (detail), artist formerly known, Tibet, c. 19th century. From the Wellcome Collection. c b

A bloodletting chart with sme ba (symbolizing the elements in geomancy), pa-kua (Taoist cosmology symbols), deities (Mañjuśrī, White Tārā, Vajrapāṇi), zodiac animals, and fortune signs.

[download (6.7 mb)]

2. Cosmological diagram (detail) in Ma'rifatnāma (Book of Gnosis), Ibrāhīm Hakkı, possibly Istanbul, 1822. From the University of Michigan Library, Special Collections. p

Representing Mecca and conditions of the resurrection during end times.

[download (1.7 mb)]

3. Sun, Moon, and Five Peaks, artist unrecorded, paint on silk folding screen, Korea, Joseon dynasty, 19th–early 20th century. From the National Palace Museum of Korea. q

Representing the universe.

[download (4.6 mb)]

4. Auspicious Maw, Astria Suparak and Karen Tam, 2022. Based on a detail from chair covers, artist formerly known, woven silk (kesi) and metallic thread, China, Qing dynasty, 18th century, from the Metropolitan Museum.

With symbols of immortality (and possibly Isle of the Immortals) and auspicious patterns.

[download (1.6 mb)]

5. Rank badge with two phoenixes (detail), artist formerly known, silk and metal thread tapestry (kesi), China, Ming dynasty, 16th century. From the Metropolitan Museum.

With mythological creatures (phoenixes) and auspicious fungus, both associated with immortality.

[download (10.3 mb)]

6. Mandala of Jnanadakini (detail), possibly by an itinerant Newari artist, distemper on cloth, Tibet, late 14th century. From the Metropolitan Museum. c

With deities (Jnanadakini and other devi), mythological creatures (ḍākinīs), and flames possibly depicting the periphery of the universe.

[download (1.2 mb)]

7. The Lotus Gate (detail), Vidyadhar Bhattacharya [Jai Singh II], Pritam Niwas Chowk, City Palace, Jaipur, India, from 1727–43. From Wiki-uk. c

Representing summer and dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.

[download (2.1 mb)]

8. The Green Gate (detail), Vidyadhar Bhattacharya [Jai Singh II], Pritam Niwas Chowk, City Palace, Jaipur, India, from 1727–43. From Wiki-uk. c

Representing spring and dedicated to the Hindu god Ganesha.

[download (1 mb)]