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Longitudes cuts across Latitudes’ projects and research with news, updates, and reportage.

Cover Story, October 2024: Nancy Holt “Ventilation System”

October 2024 cover story on www.lttds.org


NEW MONTH 
NEW MONTHLY COVER STORY

The October 2024 monthly Cover Story “Nancy Holt “Ventilation System” is now up on Latitudes’ homepage (after October 2024 it will be archived here). Cover Stories are published monthly featuring past, present, or forthcoming projects, research, texts, artworks, exhibitions, films, objects, or field trips related to Latitudes’ curatorial projects and activities.

Mariana Cánepa Luna of Latitudes was commissioned to write an essay on a work by American artist Nancy Holt  (1938–2014) for the Holt/Smithson Foundation’s Scholarly Text Program.

→ Read it here.

Mariana focused on Holt’s “Ventilation System” (1985–1992), a site-responsive installation that celebrates air-conditioning infrastructures and draws attention to their ubiquitous, though often overlooked, presence in modern life. While such building components are typically concealed, Holt’s work ostentatiously showcases industrial ducts and fans, blending functionality with wry playfulness. This installation, part of her “System Works”, critiques humanity's dependency on technological infrastructures and subtly raises ecological concerns around energy use. It reflects Holt’s interest in connecting human experience to larger natural systems, akin to her most famous work, “Sun Tunnels” (1973–1976).

Graphics courtesy Holt/Smithson Foundation.



In today's context, “Ventilation System” resonates with a heightened sustainability awareness. Recent artworks, like Nick Raffel’s “fan (Wesleyan)” (2022) and “wind dial (Pied-à-Terre)” (2021), further explore air circulation in buildings, emphasizing efficiency and environmental literacy. Ghislaine Leung’s “Violets 2” (2018) explores related themes, using repurposed ventilation pipes to reflect on institutional conditions and artistic labour. 

[1 and 2] Nancy Holt, “Ventilation IV: Hampton Air”, 1992. Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, New York. Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, New York. Steel ducts, fans, turbine ventilators, shanty caps. Indoor section: 4.9 x 5.5 x 8.5 m. Outdoor section: 4.8 x 6.1 x 8.2 m. © Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York. [2] Ghislaine Leung, “Violets 2”, 2018. Galvanised Steel Ventilation System, Brackets, Screws, Bolts, Dirt, Welcome Sign. Ventilation System removed from Network Aalst Bar during 2017 refurbishment. Commissioned by Network Aalst, Belgium. Score: All pipes removed for refurbishment reinstalled within the space of one room and bracketed fixed to the floor, using as much of the material as possible while keeping it all interconnected. Spare pieces that do not fit in this configuration are to be bracketed together in smaller formations. A welcome sign to be installed. Courtesy of the artist and Maxwell Graham, New York. [3] Nick Raffel, “Pied-à-terre”, San Francisco, 2022. Photo: McIntyre Parker. Courtesy of the artist.

Throughout her career, Holt presented four iterations of “Ventilation System”: at Temple Gallery, Philadelphia; and Palladium, New York (both in 1985); at the Tampere Art Museum, Finland; and at the Guild Hall Museum in East Hampton, New York (both in 1992). Posthumously, the installation has been presented on three occasions: at Bildmuseet, Umeå, Sweden; Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia (both in 2022); and most recently at MACBA Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Spain (2023).

[Above and below] Nancy Holt, “Ventilation System” (1985-92). Installation view: Bildmuseet, Umeå, Sweden, 2022. Steel ducts, turbine ventilators, shanty caps, fans, air [materials are locally sourced with each presentation]. Overall dimensions variable [site responsive]. Photograph: Mikael Lundgren. Image Courtesy Holt/Smithson Foundation and Bildmuseet. © Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York


The Scholarly Text Program regularly commissions thinkers from various disciplines to write 1,200 words on single artworks by Nancy Holt and/or Robert Smithson. The authors explore how Holt and Smithson’s ideas resonate through artistic and cultural production in the present, exploring topics ranging from geology to ecology, poetry, architecture, science fiction, public art, sculpture, drawing, film, exhibition histories or philosophy. The Scholarly Text Program will publish two essays on each work, presenting differing opinions and approaches. Each new essay includes images selected by the author, a short bibliography, citation references, endnotes pointing to the author’s references and an ISBN. 

Stay tuned for Max Andrews’ upcoming contribution on Smithson’s article “Aerial Art” (1969) next month.

Thank you to Lisa Le Feuvre, Executive Director of the Holt/Smithson Foundation, for the kind invitation to contribute to the foundation’s growing Scholarly Texts Program archive and to William T. Carson, Program Manager and Assistant Curator, for the research assistance. Extended gratitude to Chicago-based artist Nick Raffel for the insightful online studio visit and to Maxwell Graham Gallery, New York.


Abstract
Nancy Holt’s “Ventilation System” (1985-92) is a site-specific installation that exposes the hidden infrastructure of air circulation in buildings. By using industrial-grade ducts and HVAC systems, Holt both celebrates and critiques human dependence on technology. The essay discusses the relationship between “Ventilation System” and environmental concerns. It highlights the tension between functionality and artistic playfulness, and how the work raises awareness of our reliance on energy-intensive systems. Finally, the essay connects Holt’s artistic intervention to current debates about sustainability in the art world, particularly regarding museum energy consumption.

Keywords:
Nancy Holt, ventilation systems, Site-specificity, HVAC systems, sustainability, ecological concerns, System Works, Land art, Conceptual art, Charlotte Posenenske, Post-pandemic world, climate change, Institutional critique, building efficiency, sustainability, air quality, Nick Raffel, Karen Archey, Third wave of Institutional Critique, HVLS fans, Ghislaine Leung, artistic labour, climate crisis, “Constitutional critique”, context-contingent art.   

How to cite
Cánepa Luna, Mariana, “Nancy Holt’s “Ventilation System” (1985–1992).” Holt/Smithson Foundation: Scholarly Texts Chapter 7 (October 2024). ISBN: 978-1-952603-35-8 https://holtsmithsonfoundation.org/nancy-holts-ventilation-system-1985-1992


→ RELATED CONTENTS

  • Archive of Monthly Cover Stories 
  • Other writing by Mariana Cánepa Luna
  • Looking back – Visiting Robert Smithson's “Spiral Jetty” (1970) on 7 September 2004, 7 Sep 2014
  • Publication “Robert Smithson: Art in Continual Movement” (Alauda Publications, 2012) includes an essay by Max Andrews, 28 Mar 2012
  • Cover Story–September 2024: Cover Story, September 2024: THE CREST OF A WAVE, 2 Sept 2024
  • Cover Story–July-August 2024: Rosa Tharrats, Curtain Call, 1 July 2024 
  • Cover Story, June 2024: TERENCE GOWER—DIPLOMACY, URBANISM, URANIUM, 3 June 2024
  • Cover Story, May 2024: Richard Serra & Anne Garde—Threats of Paradise, 30 Apr 2024 
  • Cover Story, April 2024: In Progress–Iratxe Jaio and Klaas van Gorkum, 2 April 2024
  • Cover Story, March 2024: Dibbets en Palencia, 4 March 2024
  • Cover Story, February 2024: Climate Conscious Travel to ARCOmadrid, 1 February 2024
  • Cover Story, January 2024: Curating Lab 2014–Curatorial Intensive, 2 Jan 2024 
  • Cover Story, December 2023: Ibon Aranberri, Partial View, 2 Dec 2023 
  • Cover Story, November 2023: Surucuá, Teque-teque, Arara: Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, 2 Nov 2023
  • Cover Story, October 2023: A tree felled, a tree cut in seven, 2 October 2023

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Max Andrews’ Manifesta 15 highlights in frieze

The Three Chimneys in Sant Adrià del Besòs. Photo © Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana / Arnau Rovira.

Max Andrews from Latitudes (a frieze Contributing Writer) and Angel Lambo (Associate Editor of frieze) shared six highlights of Manifesta 15 for frieze.com 

The 2024 edition of the roving biennial spans 12 cities in and around the Barcelona Metropolitan area, making it one of the most ambitious in scale and reach. However, while its extensive geographical footprint is impressive, questions remain about whether the quality of the exhibitions lives up to its ambitious scope. A hotly debated topic during the opening days was whether the venues’ varying sizes complemented or engulfed the works on display, as is the example of the Tres Xemeneies (Three Chimneys), the colossal former thermal power station by the Besòs river. With over 90 participants and a wide array of interventions, events, and talks, an additional challenge lies in ensuring a cohesive experience across all locations.

Read more


RELATED CONTENT:

  • Other writing on Latitudes’ website.
  • Reviews, opinions, profiles and interviews published in frieze magazine. 
  • 20th and concluding dispatch of “Incidents (of Travel)” from Barcelona, Spain, 26 Oct 2022
  • Compositions 2015, five city-wide commissions conceived for the first Barcelona Gallery Weekend, various locations, Barcelona, 1–4 October 2015 
  • Compositions 2016, five city-wide commissions conceived for the first Barcelona Gallery Weekend, various locations, Barcelona, 29 September–2 October 2016
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Cover Story, July–August 2024: Rosa Tharrats’ Curtain Call


       July–August 2024 cover story on www.lttds.org


The July–August 2024 monthly Cover Story “” is now up on our homepage: www.lttds.org (after August 2024 this story will be archived here).

“Summer is here and the Cover Story for July and August features Rosa Tharrats’ “AVOC IVIDRAM” (2024), a work that veiled the exterior of Bombon Projects during the opening of her exhibition “Refugia” earlier this year. This show is the focus of Max Andrews’s first contribution to Artforum magazine, appearing in the summer issue. → Continue reading 

Cover Stories are published monthly on Latitudes’ homepage featuring past, present, or forthcoming projects, research, texts, artworks, exhibitions, films, objects, or field trips related to our curatorial projects and activities.


→ RELATED CONTENTS

  • Archive of Monthly Cover Stories Cover Story, June 2024: TERENCE GOWER—DIPLOMACY, URBANISM, URANIUM, 3 June 2024
  • Cover Story, May 2024: Richard Serra & Anne Garde—Threats of Paradise, 30 Apr 2024
  • Cover Story, April 2024: In Progress–Iratxe Jaio and Klaas van Gorkum, 2 April 2024
  • Cover Story, March 2024: Dibbets en Palencia, 4 March 2024Cover Story, February 2024: Climate Conscious Travel to ARCOmadrid, 1 February 2024
  • Cover Story, January 2024: Curating Lab 2014–Curatorial Intensive, 2 Jan 2024 Cover Story, December 2023: Ibon Aranberri, Partial View, 2 Dec 2023
  • Cover Story, November 2023: Surucuá, Teque-teque, Arara: Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, 2 Nov 2023
  • Cover Story, October 2023: A tree felled, a tree cut in 7, 2 October 2023
  • Cover Story, September 2023: The Pilgrim in Ireland, 6 September 2023
  • Cover Story, July–August 2023: Honeymoon in Valencia, 1 July 2023

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Marking 20 Years of Max Andrews as a Writer for Frieze Magazine


Reviews, opinion columns, profiles, and features here.

This month marks 20 years of Max Andrews contributing to frieze magazine. Max’s inaugural review in 2004 featured an exhibition of Danish artist Jesper Just at Midway Contemporary, written while working as a Curatorial Fellow at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. 

Over the last two decades, Max has written +60 texts exploring topics including ecologyinstitutional thinkingopen call fatigue, the history of IVAM – Spain’s pioneering Modern Art Museum – highlights for ARCOmadrid (2024, 2023, 2022, 2020 editions), or Barcelona's intricate cultural landscape, among others. 

He has reviewed art events and exhibitions in Arlès, Barcelona, Bordeaux, Bregenz, London, Madrid, Málaga, Montpellier, New York, Venice, and Zurich. He has profiled the work of Spanish-based artists such as Ibon Aranberri, David Bestué, Lúa Coderch, Dora García, Adrià Julià, Rasmus Nilausen, Miralda, Xavier Ribas, Eulàlia Rovira, Francesc Ruiz, Julia Spínola, or Teresa Solar Abboud, as well as the international practices of Maria Thereza Alves, Duncan Campbell, Iratxe Jaio & Klaas van Gorkum, Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, Lucy Skaer, Nicholas Mangan or Bruno Zhu.

Max’s latest review covers Ibon Aranberri’s survey exhibition “Entresaka” at the ARTIUM Museoa – Museo de Arte Contemporáneo del País Vasco in Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country).

Other reviews, opinion columns, profiles, and features here.

Writing published elsewhere here.


→ RELATED CONTENT:

  • Max Andrews' Valencia Feature in frieze magazine, November-December 2019, 2 November 2019
  • Max Andrews reviews in frieze: ‘A Provisional History of the Technical Image, 1844–2018’ (LUMA Foundation, Arlès) and Pere Llobera's ‘Acció’ (Bombon Projects, Barcelona) and ‘Kill Your Darlings’ (Sis Galería, Sabadell), 4 January 2019
  • Mariana Cánepa Luna reviews Frieze week 2018 for art-agenda.com, 15 October 2018
  • MaxAndrews review of Mark Bradford's inaugural exhibition “Masses and Movements” at Hauser Wirth Menorca centres on “the 1507 Waldseemüller world map, the first to depict a landmass in the far reaches of the Atlantic and to name it America.”
  • “Like the derelict buildings that pockmark Lleida’s urban fabric, Bestué’s exhibition summons a terrain that is barely held together, on the verge of becoming undone.” – Max Andrews on David Bestué exhibition at La Panera, Lleida in "The 5 Best Exhibitions in the EU Right Now", 19 May 2021 
  • Max Andrews reviews Eulàlia Rovira's solo show at etHALL where the artist pays homage to the thresholds between life and death in frieze, October 2020
  • frieze review by Max Andrews of Joachim Koester's show at the Blueproject Foundation, Barcelona 
  • October 2004 issue of frieze includes Max Andrews' review of Christopher Knowles show at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise 
  • Two texts by Max Andrews in the April 2018 issue of frieze: review of La Panace’s Crash Test (Montpellier) and Lúa Coderch’s solo show at àngels Barcelona  
  • Max Andrews on Alexandre Estrela at Museo Reina Sofia 
  • Exhibition Review of Rasmus Nilausen's show "Read the Image" at Garcia Galeria by Max Andrews in frieze 
  • Review of Lucy Skaer's 2014 solo show Glasgow Tramway by Max Andrews in frieze
  • Profile on Francesc Ruiz’s comic books, identity & homoerotic iconography by Max Andrews in frieze
  • A 2007 profile on Wilfredo Prieto by Max Andrews on frieze
  • A 2012 review by Max Andrews on the film "Arbeit (Work, 2011)" by 2014 Turner Prize winner Duncan Campbell  
  • 2006 review of Ignasi Aballí's retrospective at MACBA by Max Andrews   
  • Review of Julia Montilla’s show Fundació Miró by Max Andrews on frieze 
  • Max Andrews on Pablo Helguera's 2013 ‘Librería Donceles’ at Kent Fine Art in New York in frieze 
  • 2005 review by Max Andrews of Latitudes of Jordan Wolfson's show Kunsthalle Zurich 
  • Max Andrews on the political, social and economic factors of environmentalism in frieze magazine, 2007

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Max Andrews reviews Rosa Tharrats's exhibition “Residua” at Bombon Projects for Artforum

Exhibition views of “Refugia” by Rosa Tharrats, Bombon Projects, Barcelona. All photos: Roberto Ruiz.

Max Andrews’s first contribution to Artforum reviews “Refugia”, the first solo exhibition of Rosa Tharrats at Bombon Projects in Barcelona, which opened on March 20, 2024. Andrews’ review coincides with the first issue under the new editorial eye of Tina Rivers Ryan, the magazine’s recently appointed editor-in-chief. 

“One could have imagined the exhibition inside as much a sanctum for a spiritual retreat for unwinding the mind/body dualism as an outré couture collection without humans, where inscrutable organic divinities dressed for auspiciousness.” 

Continue reading here.












RELATED CONTENT:

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Max Andrews reviews Ibon Aranberri’s exhibition “Entresaka” at ARTIUM Museoa for frieze


(Above and below) View of Ibon Aranberri’s exhibition “Entrasaka” at ARTIUM Museoa. All photos: Latitudes.


Max Andrews reviews Ibon Aranberri’s survey exhibition “Entresaka”, the ARTIUM Museoa – Museo de Arte Contemporáneo del País Vasco in Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country) for frieze magazine: 

“The exhibition’s evocative title, ‘Entresaka’ (‘thinning’ in the Basque language), accounts for the show’s apparent evasiveness, evoking the forestry management practice of selectively felling individual trees in order to promote overall woodland health and diversity. The artist’s most representative and extensive projects are duly cut down as if to their stumps in order that more marginal works may be afforded more light.” 

Continue reading “Ibon Aranberri’s Abiding Instincts” here.













The exhibition has been coproduced with the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, where it was presented between November 2023 and March 2024 under the title “Vista parcial” (Partial View). It is co-curated by Manuel Borja-Villel and Beatriz Herráez. 

(Above and below) Views of Ibon Aranberri’s exhibition “Vista partial (Partial View)” at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid. Photos: Latitudes.









→ RELATED CONTENT:

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Latitudes renews their Active Membership with Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC)

Pantallazo con los miembros de Latitudes mencionados en el anuncio de GCC con los 125 Miembros Activos de 2023.

Max Andrews and Mariana Cánepa Luna of Latitudes are among the 125 Members who have successfully achieved Active Membership 2023 with Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC). This is the second year running that Latitudes is an Active Member. This new cohort represents a 50% increase in successful applications and a renewal of over 85% of last year’s Active members.

To renew our Active status we continued implementing environmental sustainability best practices in line with GCC’s guidelines focusing on near-term tangible actions, and had to:

  • Complete a CO2e report or audit. Latitudes’ carbon footprint was 17.4tCo2e in 2019 (baseline year), 3.8tCo2e in 2022 and 1.5tCo2e in 2023. We reduced our footprint by 78% of the emissions within the first year of the calculations and over 60% in the second year. We calculate our carbon footprint by considering travel, hotel accommodation, and energy consumption emissions, and use the GCC Carbon Calculator and DEFRA conversion factors to ensure consistent and accurate reporting.
  • Establish and maintain a Green TeamLatitudes is one of the Founding Committee members of GCC Spain, one of the seven International volunteer teams currently operating in Los Angeles, New York, London, Berlin, Italy, and Taiwan.
  • Publish an Environmental Responsibility Statement – our extended and illustrated version here.



Active Membership is not a certification of sustainability. Yet, it entails transparency in assessing, reporting, and reducing climate impact, setting targets aligned with science, and searching for working solutions. Active Membership badges are year-stamped and members re-submit annually to retain the latest Active designation.

Active Membership Announcement here.


RELATED CONTENTS:


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Cover Story, April 2024: In Progress–Iratxe Klaas & Klaas van Gorkum

April 2024 cover story on www.lttds.org

The April 2024 monthly Cover Story “In Progress–Iratxe Klaas & Klaas van Gorkum” is now up on our homepage: www.lttds.org (after April 2024 this story will be archived here).

“On the occasion of their participation in Ten Thousand Suns, the 24th edition of the Biennale of Sydney, April’s Cover Story spotlights Iratxe Jaio & Klaas van Gorkum, and The Margins of the Factory, the solo exhibition of the duo’s work that Latitudes curated in 2014.” → Continue reading 

Cover Stories are published monthly on Latitudes’ homepage featuring past, present, or forthcoming projects, research, texts, artworks, exhibitions, films, objects, or field trips related to our curatorial projects and activities.


→ RELATED CONTENTS

  • Archive of Monthly Cover Stories 
  • Cover Story, March 2024: Dibbets en Palencia, 4 March 2024
  • Cover Story, February 2024: Climate Conscious Travel to ARCOmadrid, 1 February 2024
  • Cover Story, January 2024: Curating Lab 2014–Curatorial Intensive, 2 Jan 2024 
  • Cover Story, December 2023: Ibon Aranberri, Partial View, 2 Dec 2023 
  • Cover Story, December 2023: Ibon Aranberri, Partial View
  •  Sat, 2 Dec 2023 
  • Cover Story, November 2023: Surucuá, Teque-teque, Arara: Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, 2 Nov 2023
  • Cover Story, October 2023: A tree felled, a tree cut in 7, 2 October 2023
  • Cover Story, September 2023: The Pilgrim in Ireland, 6 September 2023
  • Cover Story, July–August 2023: Honeymoon in Valencia, 1 July 2023
  • Cover Story, June 2023: Crystal Bennes futures, 1 Jun 2023
  • Cover Story, May 2023: Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty in Barcelona, 1 May 2023
  • Cover Story, April 2023: Jerónimo Hagerman (1967–2023), 1 Apr 2023
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Cover Story, July–August 2023: Honeymoon in Valencia

    July–August 2023 cover story on www.lttds.org


The July–August 2023 monthly Cover Story “Honeymoon in Valencia” is now up on our homepage: www.lttds.org

“In April this year, the streets of Valencia witnessed a remarkable sight: a colossal high-heeled shoe, adorned in the fashion of a Venetian gondola, paraded its way to the Bombas Gens Centre d’Art. 

→ Continue reading (after August 2023 this story will be archived here).

Cover Stories are published on a monthly basis on Latitudes’ homepage featuring past, present or forthcoming projects, research, texts, artworks, exhibitions, films, objects or field trips related to our curatorial projects and activities.


→ RELATED CONTENTS

  • More writing by Max Andrews in frieze
  • Archive of Monthly Cover Stories 
  • Cover Story, June 2023: Crystal Bennes futures, 1 Jun 2023
  • Cover Story, May 2023: Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty in Barcelona, 1 May 2023
  • Cover Story, April 2023: Jerónimo Hagerman (1967–2023), 1 Apr 2023
  • Cover Story, March 2023: Art, Climate and New Coalitions, 1 March 2023
  • Cover Story, February 2023: Soil for Future Art Histories, 2 Feb 2023
  • Cover Story, January 2023: Claudia Pagès’ ‘Gerundi Circular’, 2 Jan 2023
  • Cover Story, December 2022: “The Melt Goes On Forever. David Hammons and DART Festival, 1 December 2022
  • Cover Story, November 2022: Jorge Satorre’s Barcelona, 1 Nov 2022
  • Cover Story, October 2022: Stray Ornithologies—Laia Estruch, 3 Oct 2022
  • Cover Story, September 2022: The means of print production: Erick Beltrán and lumbung press, 1 September 2022
  • Cover Story, July–August 2022:  Incidents (of Travel) from Seoul, 1 July 2022
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Cover Story, October 2022: Stray Ornithologies—Laia Estruch

 

October 2022 cover story.


The October 2022 monthly Cover Story “Stray Ornithologies—Laia Estruch” is now up on our homepage: www.lttds.org

“Within the context of PUBLICS’ annual gathering Today Is Our Tomorrow, on 8 October Laia Estruch and Irina Mutt will lead a workshop in Helsinki as part of this year’s programme focusing on the presentness of the voice in its many sonic forms, vocal modes and acoustic modalities. Continue reading 

After October 2022 this story will be archived here.

Cover Stories are published on a monthly basis on Latitudes’ homepage featuring past, present or forthcoming projects, research, texts, artworks, exhibitions, films, objects or field trips related to our curatorial projects and activities.


→ RELATED CONTENTS

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