Storytellers of Art Histories by Yasmeen Siddiqui
The writings in this anthology, Storytellers of Art Histories, amplify the voices of those who are reshaping art histories: not only art historians and curators, but also archivists and artists. At the same time, an overwhelming majority of our contributors have fluid practices, which render these categories moot. There is a special focus on gender, race (including Whiteness), class, sexuality and transnationality - all of which are often marginalized in dominant art histories. Each individual in this book has provided short, often very personal, contributions indicating how they began to become passionate about their practice. The contributors respond in a multitude of surprising ways, appealing equally to people enmeshed in the field through their work and to those simply interested in the field. The stories you will read take various forms - a letter written to a friend, a revisioned grant application, the pastiche of image and text, children's fables, interviews, co-authored narrative, memoir, manifesto and apology. A number of the essays perform, through a combination of recollected early memory alongside scholarly research, the roots of the theories they explore through publishing, curating and archival work.