Critical Art Periodicals Challenge Western Hegemony in Global Art Discourse
In her 2016 essay, Gwen Allen investigates the role of art periodicals as significant platforms for critique in the modern art landscape, questioning the dominance of Western perspectives. She examines various publications, including Gahnama-E-Hunar from Afghanistan (2000, Rawraw Omarzad), Pages from Iran (2004, Nasrin Tabatabai and Babak Afrassiabi), Chimurenga from Cape Town (2002, Ntone Edjabe), and Chto Delat? from St. Petersburg (2003, Dmitry Vilensky). Allen also addresses the 2007 Documenta 12 Magazines initiative, which included over 90 periodicals but was criticized for appropriating local insights. Additional publications discussed are Arteria from Armenia (Vardan Azatyan), SentAp! from Malaysia (Nur Hanim Mohamed Khairuddin), ArtTerritories (Ursula Biemann and Shuruq Harb), and Sarai Reader from Delhi (Raqs Media Collective). Allen is a faculty member at San Francisco State University and wrote "Artists' Magazines: An Alternative Space for Art" (MIT Press, 2011).
Key facts
- Essay published October 22, 2016 on ARTMargins Online
- Examines critical art periodicals challenging Western institutional dominance
- Discusses Documenta 12 Magazines project (2007) with 90+ periodicals from 50+ countries
- Gahnama-E-Hunar founded in 2000 by Rawraw Omarzad in Afghanistan during Taliban rule
- Pages magazine founded in 2004 by Nasrin Tabatabai and Babak Afrassiabi, published in Tehran and Rotterdam
- Chimurenga founded in 2002 in Cape Town by Ntone Edjabe
- Chto Delat? broadsheet launched in 2003 by St. Petersburg artistic collective including Dmitry Vilensky
- References historical artists' magazines from 1960s-1970s like October and Avalanche
Entities
Artists
- Gwen Allen
- Rawraw Omarzad
- Nasrin Tabatabai
- Babak Afrassiabi
- Ntone Edjabe
- Dmitry Vilensky
- Ursula Biemann
- Shuruq Harb
- Yazid Anani
- Rheim Alkadhi
- Ganzeer
- Thomas Keenan
- Darko Šimičić
- Pamela M. Lee
- Octavian Esanu
- David Joselit
- Georg Schöllhammer
- Peter Osborne
- Chantal Mouffe
- Andrea Frazer
- Vardan Azatyan
- Nur Hanim Mohamed Khairuddin
- Nikolai Chernyshevsky
- Vladimir Lenin
- Ghulam Mohammad Maimanagi
- Edward Munch
- Siddiq Barmak
- Raqs Media Collective
Institutions
- ARTMargins Online
- ARTMargins Print
- San Francisco State University
- MIT Press
- Documenta
- American University Beirut
- National Gallery of Afghanistan
- Radical Philosophy
- Nafas Art Magazine
- Whitechapel Gallery
- Centre for the Study of Developing Societies
- Sarai
- Pan African Space Station (PASS)
- Chimurenga Library
- Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden
- Artforum
- Frieze
- October
- Avalanche
- The Fox
- FILE
- Heresies
- Lip
- Black Phoenix
- Pages
- Chimurenga
- Chto Delat?
- Arteria
- SentAp!
- ArtTerritories
- Sarai Reader
- Gahnama-E-Hunar
Locations
- San Francisco, CA
- United States
- Afghanistan
- Pakistan
- Iran
- Tehran
- Rotterdam
- Netherlands
- Cape Town
- South Africa
- St. Petersburg
- Russia
- Zurich
- Switzerland
- Ramallah
- Palestine
- Birzeit
- Los Angeles
- Egypt
- Delhi
- India
- Armenia
- Malaysia
- The Philippines
- Indonesia
- Thailand
- Cambridge
- London
- United Kingdom
- Beirut
- Lebanon
- Singapore
- Baden-Baden
- Germany
- Yugoslavia
- Eastern Europe
- North America
- Western Europe
- Asia
- East and Southeast Asia
- Middle East
- Eastern Mediterranean