"Entangled Histories of Art and Migration: Theories, Sites, and Research Methods", edited by Cathrine Bublatzky, Burcu Dogramaci, Kerstin Pinther, and Mona Schieren, was published on 27 September 2024 by the British publishing house Intellect. It deals with the relationship between migration and art from a global perspective.

The open-access publication is the result of an interdisciplinary research network spanning several years and funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) from 2018 to 2022. [1] The publication emerged from the working group "Art Production and Art Theory in the Context of Global Migration" (AG Kunstproduktion und Kunsttheorie im Zeichen globaler Migration des Ulmer Vereins, Verband für Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaften), which has been active since 2013. [2]

The research network focuses on migration, diaspora and globalisation as significant phenomena of social transformation in the 20th and 21st centuries, and their role in art historical research and artistic production. Alongside the University of the Arts (HfK) Bremen, the network comprises the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, the Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies, KIT Karlsruhe, LMU Munich, the University of Duisburg-Essen, TU Darmstadt, the University of Cologne and the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, as well as the Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies in Osnabrück.

As part of the research network, a total of six international workshops were held, along with this final publication. These workshops and the book both contribute to establishing long-term engagement with migration research in global art history, not least as a research field within migration studies, and make it visible both nationally and internationally. In line with international art historical migration research, the network identified three key research areas that interweave the fields of art and migration: "Forms and Aesthetics of Migration", "Actors in the Field of Migration", and "Visibility: Image Politics and Visualisation Strategies in the Context of Migration".

These research questions were fundamental to the book. It asks how the stories of migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and exiles are interwoven with art, artistic practices, activism, reception, and (re-)presentation. It thus asks how migration shapes art and aesthetic practices and explores the complex entanglements of art and aesthetic practices with migration, flight and other forms of enforced displacement and border crossings in a global context. These entanglements emerge when migration shapes forms and aesthetics, when actors employ image politics and visualisation strategies in relation to migration at various times and locations, or when materialities, sites, and spaces become significant in decision-making processes.

The book's sections are co-edited and co-organised by various scholars from the network. Spanning 428 pages, this extensive collection brings together 26 contributions from 32 international researchers and curators from within the group, as well as additional articles from the wider scholarly community. The co-editors have brought together a broad selection of texts, which are organised into five key sections. Each section is preceded by an introduction written by the section's heads.

Section 1, "Visibilities | Invisibilities", revolves around the complex politics of visibility and invisibility, their ambivalent meanings in migratory regimes and the living environments of refugees, and affective agency. Section 2, "Sites | Spaces", links the project's research focus on exile, migration and flight to the resulting new spaces and architectural aesthetics. Section 3, "Materiality | Materialisation", considers materiality as an agent that transforms social reality within the contexts of colonialism, imperialism, nation-building, tourism, sacrality, and migration. Section 4, "Racism | Resistance", explores the theoretical frameworks of Critical Race Theory, decolonising Migration, and Postmigration Studies. It also highlights art historical enquiry, as well as contemporary artistic research and curatorial practices in museums, exhibitions, and public spaces that counteract racism. The final section, "Practices | Performativity", foregrounds the dynamic correlation between art historical and artistic practices. Taking a performative approach to subjects of investigation that goes beyond the sense of sight contributes to counter-hegemonic knowledge of the micropolitics of the body.

The structure of the book is well chosen, demonstrating the complexity of the subject matter and the research group's approach of trying to address it from as many different angles and perspectives as possible, in order to reveal the interconnections between art and migration. This approach is also reflected in the image chosen for the book cover. It features an artwork by Nil Yalter, entitled "Temporary Dwellings", 1974-77, which was exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2024. It depicts a series of temporary dwellings in neighbourhoods shaped by migration in Turkey and Paris, prompting reflections on belonging, place-making, and inclusion in a community.

Against this background, the book's title could have been explained in more detail. The concept of entangled histories and its historical perspective is taken for granted and not defined or explained further. While it is briefly mentioned in the introduction, the authors do not deem it necessary to elaborate on it because they find it self-evident. However, as it is the underlying key concept of the book, it would have been beneficial to introduce it to readers who are unfamiliar with the topic.

The essays are complemented by visual essays contributed by the artists Cana Bilir-Meier and Azra Akšamija. Cana Bilir-Meier also presented her work in a film screening and artist talk, organised by Cathrine Bublatzky, Burcu Dogramaci, Kerstin Pinther and Mona Schieren to celebrate the book's launch at the University of the Arts Bremen (HfK) on November 2, 2024. On this occasion, "Steps through Stories", a collective walk by Bubu Mosiashvili and Cana Bilir-Meier together with Hodan-Ali Farah took the participants to various sites in Bremen with a colonial past and discussed their legacy in the present, including the systemic racism faced by people of color in the German school system.

One issue that may be missed when reading the book is the global climate crisis and its impact on migration worldwide. Due to space restrictions, this issue could not be included in the publication, but it is being discussed within the working group and will feature in future debates on migration, climate change and anti-racist art history, as well as new forms of racism. These topics are the focus of two subgroups of the working group "Art Production and Art Theory in the Context of Global Migration" (AG Kunstproduktion und Kunsttheorie im Zeichen globaler Migration).

Overall, "Entangled Histories of Art and Migration: Theories, Sites and Research Methods" is an excellent book, providing valuable insights into the group's research while addressing important questions and issues that have not been raised before. It is a fundamental introduction to the relationship between art and migration.

Notes:

[1] For more information: https://enthisartmig.hypotheses.org/

[2] For more information: https://www.ag-kunst-migration.de/

Hanna Büdenbender