Lara Chapman

Department: Design Curating and Writing
Website: www.lara-chapman.com

Through the Emoji Looking Glass

What: An augmented tour and a book exploring the parallel cultural battles and contradictions between the collection of historic artworks of the Rijksmuseum and emoji.

Why: Museum collections and emoji appear to exist in different worlds. One is fast, fun and digital, while the other is slow and serious, focused on history. Both, however, are visual collections with significant power to shape our culture. They can either perpetuate current biases or reshape our ideologies.

How: By bringing these seemingly disparate collections into conversation, Lara Chapman presents a new perspective on the icons and symbols of our time. The project invites you to see the world ‘through the emoji looking glass’ and discover that nothing is quite what it seems.

“Collections and their symbols can be playful, but also political and problematic”