The story of humanity is a journey intertwined with transforming our environment to create an “artificial” world designed by human hands. Just as genes—the most reliable hard drives of nature, carrying information through generations—, human creation also has its own hereditary system: techniques, aesthetics, functionalities, contexts, and symbolism.
New artistic and design creations still follow the same ancient framework. What has changed are the containers within it: new techniques, styles, functions, contexts, and meanings. Every culture has developed its own creative system unique to its context. Yet, traces of antiquity clearly shine through the history of creation, honoring the power of its enduring success.
One of the oldest techniques developed by Cro-Magnon people was basket weaving. Some 40,000 years ago, plant fibers were intertwined to provide solutions for a particular culture and moment. This technique evolved and traveled through the hereditary system of creation across societies worldwide. Contexts shifted, aesthetics diversified dramatically, functionalities expanded, and each culture infused their own narratives and symbolism—growing a “tree of life” from a timeless idea.
Today, when we hold a basket in our hands, we can imagine a creative (or perhaps idle) soul from 400 centuries ago weaving grasses, realizing that by shaping that tapestry, they were giving life to something entirely new in nature. There lies the gene, the origin. As both object and technique, its hereditary genes took shape to travel through culture, weaving evolution and development.
A Bridge Between Past and Future
Looking backward, Cro-Magnon people traveled through Asia, settling in places like the Japanese archipelago, where unique creative techniques flourished. During the Edo period (17th–19th centuries), a revival of pride led to the strengthening of artistic expressions like kagome—a bamboo weaving technique used to build structures and baskets, and ultimately imbued with deep meanings of protection and harmony.
Looking forward, one of the greatest frontiers of technology is quantum computing—a paradigm shift akin to the leap of Artificial Intelligence, both in hardware and software. Quantum computing enables simultaneous calculations and complex problem solving with unparalleled power. This demands materials with very specific conductive and magnetic properties, challenging even the best engineers. One such material is the “van der Waals semiconductor,” physically synthesized in kagome lattice structures. Just as the bamboo baskets.
The kagome shows us how the harmony of the past merges with the quantum uncertainty of the future—opening infinite new possibilities for humanity. Prehistoric heritage travels through its hereditary system to project into what lies ahead.
Heritage as a Creative Platform
To explore the roots of creation, to learn ancient techniques, to breathe new life into timeless aesthetics, and to generate new meanings for new contexts from age-old symbolism—that is the journey we honor. Navigating the DNA of what allowed us to conquer the planet and will carry us to new worlds requires creating with reverence for the past. Connecting humanity through objects and art. This is Mumuka.