Categories Art, Culture
Published January 18, 2026
Gambit: The Fish and the Bird, an in-house photoshoot by @obtuse______archive
Story scent: cigarette smoke, dried iris root, Tom Ford Black Orchid
Story flavour: green olive crush with lemon peel and fig leaf, cold-pressed olive oil, and German-style vinegar pickles
Play on repeat while reading: The Ambient Corporate, by Side Project
Reverberating through the spaces between commercial and experimental are echoes of a hidden narrative. In the current cultural structure, definition often replaces substance, and the lingering sensations of creative projects remain overlooked.
We consume art, yet we are not given enough time to savour the aftertaste. And the longer it lingers, the more it clutches onto the back of our brain with an intense refusal to be moved or forgotten, the more we seek slower practices.
My journey of seeking platforms that utilise curation as a conscious process led me to Obtuse Archive. Unlike other projects of a similar nature, Obtuse does not announce itself loudly, attempt to build hype around specific occurrences, or seek to occupy a set place in the digital space. Instead, it employs the curatorial tools at its disposal to establish a meaningful place within the cultural ecosystem, slowly nurturing consumption as a living, breathing organism.
Obtuse describe themselves as a curatorial platform where artistic, spatial, and intellectual practices, material experimentation, and alternative narratives converge. At the core of the archive is deep intentionality. The archive contextualises artistic and cultural practices, rather than simply affirming them.
Selin Kir and Yang Rung Chen, founders of Obtuse Archive
The archive’s content is deeply rooted in personal connection. Founders Selin Kir and Yang Rung Chen (Moco) forgo the traditional governing criteria and base the archive’s collection on the ability to evoke an impactful emotion.
Just as the name suggests, Obtuse Archive induces a cultural slowdown. Kir’s intuitive curation allows the archive to accumulate meaningful visual evidence and deeply informed conversations. Unlike the traditional curation process, which usually centres around visibility or circulation, Obtuse Archive positions curation as a sustained act of listening.
A clear lack of schedule or production guidelines allows the archive to operate outside of trends and cycles. It takes itself outside of the mainstream equation, seeking out projects that practice alternative storytelling. Obtuse operates as a constant rather than a limited-edition drop or a cyclical event. It proposes a question to the digital space: what will you uncover when you are forced to slow down and consider the process of creation on your own terms?
The archive’s digital presence follows the same ethos. Based around two key storytelling formats, the website does not function as an endpoint or showcase, but as a continuation of the curatorial process. Visual essays and written conversations operate as complementary ways of engaging with practice.
Obtuse Archive
The visual is not illustrative; it speaks. The written does not explain; it opens. Together, they enable a continuous conversation. Both expand cultural narratives into in-depth discussions where procedure meets inspiration. Each subject explored within the archive offers a new perspective. The work of the creatives whose voices are spotlighted on the site becomes only an entry point through which the archive unpacks artistic implications.
Using the digital space as a tool, it is bound by it. Obtuse’s debut exhibition “OBTUSE°” at Galleria Objects has proven that the project can take curation out of the online platform and into a physical space. Framed as an extension of the curated archive, “OBTUSE°” explores exhibiting as an evolving practice rather than a static display.
Obtuse Archive positions itself as the occupant of in-between spaces, where practices that resist categorisation can remain unsettled. In this archive, conversations are treated as long-form exchanges rather than promotional tools, mirroring how artists and practitioners actually think and work.
In a landscape that often rushes experiences for the sake of clarity, Obtuse Archive offers a quiet confusion of static culture. While the world seeks easy solutions to complex questions, Obtuse brings a soothing unease. As it invites viewers to remain with complexity rather than seek resolution, it opens a space to sit with lingering feelings. There is no endpoint, no one right answer, just a rare insight into things that endure.
