Unfolding Conversations takes inspiration from the curatorial model of Brief Histories: a platform that remains flexible, shape-shifting between a publishing house, a gallery, and a programming space in response to on-the-ground conversations among collaborators. The publication reflects the daily migration of critical ideas, and is structured as a game of broken telephone, in which the interviewee carries forth the conversation and becomes the interviewer. The contributors’ insights evolve from one discussion into the next, igniting a chain of dialogue that travels from tongue to tongue, topic to topic, and place to place.

Unfolding Conversations brings to light urgent questions in this moment of global upheaval and precarity, asking how para-artistic practices, such as teaching, writing, translating, and organizing sustains our artistic processes. How does one adjust to changing conditions without falling prey to the rush of limitations in contemporary art and its economies? Are moments such as these an impetus to move towards more collaborative and multidisciplinary approaches, beyond the usual exhibition format? How are issues and histories translated across different linguistic or cultural contexts? And what new, transregional connections might be found through this translation?

Unfolding Conversations is published by Brief Histories and developed through a graduate course at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College (CCS Bard) led by Fawz Kabra, cofounder of Brief Histories and visiting faculty at CCS Bard.