This catalogue, accompanying the New Museum exhibition Here and Elsewhere, presents the work of over forty-five artists who share roots in the Arab world and a critical sensibility with regard to images and image-making. The title of the exhibition is borrowed from a 1976 film-essay by directors Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Gorin, and Anne-Marie Miéville. Their film, Ici et ailleurs [Here and Elsewhere], was originally conceived as a pro-Palestinian documentary, but evolved into a complex reflection on the ethics of representation and the status of images as instruments of political consciousness. Taking inspiration from Godard, Gorin, and Miéville’s film-which has had a strong impact on an entire generation of artists in various Arab countries-the exhibition and this publication pay particular attention to the position and role of the artist in the face of historical events.
 
Edited by Massimiliano Gioni, Gary Carrion-Murayari, and Natalie Bell, with Negar Azimi and Kaelen Wilson-Goldie of Bidoun magazine, the catalogue includes monographic entries on the artists in the exhibition and over one hundred color reproductions. Three roundtables with participating artists and in-depth essays by Massimiliano Gioni and Natalie Bell, Media Farzin, and Yasmine El Rashidi provide additional insight into the multilayered landscapes of contemporary art in more than fourteen Arab countries. An anthology of critical texts edited by Bidoun further highlights the critical discussions that in recent years have animated contemporary art in the Arab world and internationally.
 
New Museum; 2014; Softcover; 7.8" x 10.5"; 279 pp; 128 color and 152 b&w images; ISBN 9780915557059