Jitish Kallat’s installation, Covering Letter (Terranum Nuncius), is now on view at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. The work features 116 images depicting life on Earth, including flora, fauna, and DNA diagrams. It also includes a welcome message played in 55 languages. Kallat drew inspiration from the Golden Records that were launched into space aboard Voyager 1 and 2 in 1977. These gold-plated phonographic records serve as a time capsule for potential extraterrestrial life forms and are currently more than 13 billion miles from Earth.
The original image data on the Golden Records was converted to audio for inscription and later restored to visuals by U.S.-based engineer Ron Barry. Kallat uses these audio-visual messages as a way to reflect on humanity’s scale within the universe and encourage collective meditation on shared existence.
“This work is so large in the scale of time, space, and humanity itself that it invites viewers to reflect not only on the collective nature of our species, but also one’s own place in the world,” said Padma Dorje Maitland, exhibition curator and Malavalli Family Foundation Associate Curator of Art of the Indian Subcontinent. “How might we appear from afar when viewed through the images meant to communicate our shared humanity?”
A projection of a Pulsar Map is included in the installation—a diagram originally designed as a “return address” for extraterrestrials who might find the Golden Records. Since its creation in 1977, scientific advances have rendered this map obsolete. For Kallat, this change prompts questions about how humans understand their position in the universe despite limited knowledge.
At the center of Kallat’s exhibition is a bench shaped like the hands of a Doomsday Clock—an icon representing human-caused global catastrophe. The clock hands are nearly at midnight, symbolizing how close humanity may be to existential disaster. This motif aligns with themes throughout Kallat’s practice: considering planetary urgencies alongside longer timescales and possibilities. The Golden Records themselves—and by extension, Kallat’s installation—may last longer than human civilization or even the solar system.
“This work resonates deeply here in the Bay Area, a place that birthed both tech revolutions and the Whole Earth Catalog, which promoted the idea of planetary consciousness and helped to inspire the vision of the Golden Records,” Maitland said. “Here at the Asian Art Museum, it’s particularly interesting to consider the passage of time at this vastly different scale; it bridges the distance between our most ancient works and contemporary questions of home, belonging, and our collective humanity.”
Kallat often explores science, memory, and existential questions through his art by shifting perspectives across space and time. His work spans various media such as abstraction, schematic forms, historical texts, and different representation modes.
He has held solo exhibitions at institutions including Art Institute of Chicago; Art Gallery of New South Wales; Frist Art Museum; Ian Potter Museum of Art; Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum; Philadelphia Museum of Art; National Gallery of Modern Art (New Delhi). His works have been featured at venues like Tate Modern (London), Martin-Gropius-Bau (Berlin), Serpentine Galleries (London), Mori Art Museum (Tokyo), Pirelli HangarBicocca (Milan), among others. He has participated in several international biennales and triennials.
The Asian Art Museum holds over 20,000 works ranging from ancient artifacts to modern installations at its San Francisco location. Its programs include special exhibitions and events designed for diverse audiences.
