Berlin’s renowned museum for futures thinking, the Futurium, has opened its doors to a striking new centerpiece that challenges how visitors conceptualize the planet’s vast aquatic expanses. Running through August 31, 2026, the exhibition Ocean Futures positions the earth’s oceans not merely as geographical features, but as vital infrastructure, historical archives, and fragile neighbors. At the heart of this immersive exhibition stands the Balangay Spacecraft, a monumental installation by visionary Filipino artist Leeroy New. Forged from an eclectic matrix of organic bamboo and upcycled municipal plastic waste, New’s installation resembles an otherworldly colony of interlinked spheres. Part mangrove forest, part futuristic artificial island, the structure serves as a speculative habitat taking root on shifting, uncertain ground. Visitors stepping into the exhibition are greeted by walk-in chambers that function as womb-like spaces for transformation and growth, inviting deep contemplation on human nourishment, ecological rebirth, and the urgent necessity of kinship amid rising sea levels. Main Facts: The Intersection of Art, Ecology, and Indigenous Lore At its core, Balangay Spacecraft bridges ancient maritime history and speculative science fiction. The installation’s structural framework borrows its name and ethos from the balangay, an ancient wooden watercraft historically used across the Philippine archipelago for migration, trade, and community-building. From this linguistic and nautical root stems the word barangay, the Filipino term for a village or local community. New repurposes this historical vessel as a scaffold for collective, civic architecture. The physical construction of the installation speaks directly to contemporary environmental crises: Materials: Built primarily from fast-growing, sustainable bamboo—sourced with the guidance of local innovators—paired with an abundance of post-consumer plastic waste, including single-use PET bottles and discarded five-gallon water jugs. Mythological Roots: The cellular, orb-like pods draw inspiration from Mebuyan, a pre-colonial Bagobo goddess of death and fertility from the Philippines whose body was famously described in indigenous folklore as being covered in nurturing breasts. Accessibility: Commissioned as the Futurium’s inaugural special installation, the artwork occupies a public-facing indoor arena, maintaining the museum’s ethos of free, open access for all visitors. Chronology: The Evolution of a Speculative Philippine Sci-Fi Universe To understand the profound weight of Balangay Spacecraft, one must trace the trajectory of Leeroy New’s artistic evolution, which transitioned from personal myth-making to expansive, socially engaged public practice. Early Inspirations and Solo Explorations Growing up in the Philippines—an island nation comprising over 7,700 islands—New was heavily influenced by Western and Japanese science fiction films, graphic novels, and speculative literature. However, he quickly noticed a glaring absence: the narratives of his homeland, and the Global South at large, were entirely missing from dominant visions of the future. Early in his career, New began constructing elaborate, alien-like costumes and wearable sculptures from found objects, collaborating with performance-major friends from art school to activate these pieces within the chaotic backdrop of urban Manila. Scaling Up: From Local Parks to International Grants Over the years, New’s speculative architecture evolved into iterations known as Mebuyan’s Colony and Mebuyan’s Cradle. These works began incorporating agricultural systems, often collaborating with local farmers and gardeners to introduce living greenery into the synthetic structures. One notable milestone included a massive installation funded by a Burning Man grant, built in a remote surf town hours outside of Manila. This structure transformed into a local landmark, organically adopted by the community—viewed by some as giant turtle eggs by a local sanctuary, and referenced as a meeting point by surf instructors. The Berlin Commission The journey to Berlin began when Dr. Gabriele Zipf (Head of Exhibitions at Futurium) and Dr. Rosalina Babourkova (Research Associate) connected with the Mind Museum in Manila—a long-time collaborator of New’s. Following research trips to Philippine fishing communities and the Baltic Sea, the curators invited New to conceptualize an installation that directly addressed the shared vulnerabilities of coastal populations. The resulting Balangay Spacecraft marks New’s first major indoor museum installation on the European stage, bringing indigenous Philippine narratives directly into dialogue with European environmental discourse. Supporting Data: Plastic Surpluses, Climate Vulnerability, and Resource Inequality The conceptual power of Balangay Spacecraft lies in its unflinching confrontation with global supply chains and waste management inequalities. New’s artistic process involves visiting local recycling plants and sorting facilities in the countries where he exhibits, utilizing strictly what is locally discarded. The Plastic Burden: As a densely populated developing nation, the Philippines has frequently served as a destination for multinational consumer products packaged in single-use plastics, often unaccompanied by the necessary municipal infrastructure or public education to process the resulting waste. Furthermore, historical instances of non-recyclable foreign waste being illegally shipped to Southeast Asian ports have exacerbated the crisis. Water Security Paradox: Despite being surrounded by the ocean, the Philippines faces critical shortages of potable tap water, forcing communities to rely heavily on bottled water and generating massive volumes of PET waste. Climate Displacement: According to recent environmental assessments, low-lying island communities in regions like Tubigon, Bohol, are experiencing severe disruptions from rising sea levels, where high tides regularly submerge ground floors and force residents to continually elevate their homes. These realities are compounded by extreme weather events, including the frequent onslaught of multiple major typhoons within a single week. Official Responses and Perspectives The creation and reception of Ocean Futures and the Balangay Spacecraft have sparked vital conversations among curators, artists, and international observers regarding the role of cultural institutions in addressing climate change. Reflecting on the commissioning process, Leeroy New noted the profound cultural disconnect often imposed by historical colonial legacies: "Our country never went through a traditional art-institution model of national museums or commercial art centres. Our art was part of our daily rituals long before colonisation… European colonisers once accused us of being lazy—of just waiting for fruit to fall from the trees—because our climate is rainy and sunny, and food is abundant. But their economic systems and market structures were imposed on our way of life." New emphasizes that his artistic practice serves as a direct counter-strategy to systemic apathy and governmental corruption surrounding flood control and waste management: "This work became a kind of personal challenge—to create active solutions, or at least active approaches to this surplus of plastic waste, within a creative context… We know recycling plastic isn’t a true solution—we have to find alternatives. My work brings together the natural and the synthetic. I can’t ignore the plastic around me and only work with bamboo." Implications: Cultural Resilience, Humor, and the Future of Kinship The implications of Balangay Spacecraft extend far beyond the physical boundaries of the Futurium museum. By introducing indigenous pre-colonial narratives into a futuristic European institution, the exhibition reframes how the Global North and Global South share ecological destinies. Live Activation and Migration Stories On the exhibition’s opening night, the installation was brought to life through Dance of the Underwater Creatures, a live performance executed by five Berlin-based Filipino artists. Donning custom-designed wearable sculptures crafted from the same upcycled materials as the spacecraft, the performers embodied the deep-seated themes of migration. Given that nearly every Filipino family has a relative working abroad due to historical economic pressures, the performance served as a poignant reminder of human movement across borders. The Power of Play and Humour in Crisis Despite tackling grave themes of climate collapse, rising seas, and corporate waste dumping, New infuses his work with an irrepressible sense of playfulness. Visitors walking through the exhibition experience a cognitive shift: what initially appears as an alien, Martian-like structure gradually reveals itself to be constructed from familiar, domestic trash. This juxtaposition mirrors the resilience found in Philippine communities facing constant natural disasters. As New observes: "Playfulness feels true to how we deal with things back home. Even in the middle of floods and other crises, people find ways to laugh. It’s part of how we process hardship—you either laugh or cry." Exhibition Details Exhibition: Ocean Futures (Featuring Balangay Spacecraft by Leeroy New) Location: Futurium, Berlin, Germany Dates: On view through August 31, 2026 Opening Hours: Friday to Monday, 10:00 to 18:00; Thursday, 10:00 to 20:00. Admission: Free of charge. Post navigation The "Quiet Disaster": How the Kodak Disc Camera Bet on the Future and Lost to Physics The Architecture of Existence: Jon McCormack Reveals the Hidden Geometry of the Natural World
