Contemporary art is an area of study that is as diverse and exciting as it is contested and complex. While there are now multiple definitions of ‘the contemporary’ and when it might be said to ‘begin’ with regards to art practice, there still remains much work to be done to address the radically interdisciplinary nature of contemporary visual production; its relationship with key dynamics such as globalisation, precarity, gender, decolonisation, ecology and technology; and its communication through theory, curatorial strategies, institutional programming and art writing.

We believe that exploring these issues in contemporary art demands a transdisciplinary framework, which can draw on scholarship in economics, management, sociology, film studies, international relations, languages and literature, history, geography, gender studies, and the sciences.