The Great Instauration

Gayle Chong Kwan’s ‘The Great Instauration’ (2026) is an installation of large-scale sculpture and print in the Grand Gallery of the National Museum of Scotland that explores science as a culturally embedded process shaped by social history, power, and omission.

Through creative engagement with objects and narratives across multiple collections and museums, she has been exploring the history of the scientific canon and the advent of the Scientific Enlightenment. Her research included scientific instruments, Scotland’s historical connections with slavery, the botanical origins of medicine, infirmaries, and contemporary community gardens in Edinburgh.

In Gayle Chong Kwan’s new work, she connects exploitative and extractive histories, the scientific gaze, root growth, geological strata, and fantastical forms. Her title refers to Francis Bacon’s 17th century founding text on the scientific method, but this time as a contemporary call to restore and renew perspectives on the complex histories of science.

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