1999 was my last year at high school and the year I went to see “History and Memory in the Art of Gordon Bennett” at Brisbane City Gallery. It was the first exhibition I had ever attended and it changed my life forever.

Perhaps the apotheosis of Beirut’s rise as a center for contemporary art came earlier this year, when e-flux was invited to set up shop in Ashkal Alwan’s Home Workspace academy, with co-founder Anton Vidokle as a resident professor. 

As the academic year begins, and students arrive at, or return to, their chosen institutions with high hopes for their pursuit of knowledge, I feel a sense of anxiety that some might consider inappropriate at this time of such promise. 

In her 2013 memoir, The Girl Who Fell to Earth, artist, writer and filmmaker Sophia al‑Maria recounts an identity crisis brought on by having been raised between the Arabian Gulf and the United States. 

On a sunlit afternoon in Mumbai, surrounded by a handful of well-wishers and cultural peers, Rummana Hussain (1952–99) embarked upon her inaugural performance piece, Living on the Margins (1995). As she slowly walked around the open courtyard of the National Centre for Performing Arts with ghungroos, or ankle bells, 

The retrospective of Li Yuan-chia (1929–94) at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM), which featured over 190 pieces and documents from the artist’s four major creative periods, was inspiring for visitors who, like myself, have previously had scarce chance to see his artworks in person.

One of New Zealand’s most celebrated artists, Len Lye (1901–80) is hardly a household name in much of the art world, but is widely recognized for his major contribution to avant-garde film.

Shirtless and teetering atop a ladder in Shanghai’s heavy midday haze is how I first remember seeing Kesang Lamdark, back in September 2008. He was melting bright pink plastic sheeting over a massive, four-meter-tall boulder with a miniscule heat gun.

I am riveted by public scandals. Not just because of the salacious details, but also because scandals, like good comedy, highlight current attitudes toward particular (mis)conducts. Acceptable conduct yesterday may be subject to scorn today.