Editor Alan Cruickshank
Publisher DIVAN JOURNAL | UNSW Art & Design
Design Alan Cruickshank

divan: from the Persian diwan, an account book; origin devan, booklet; also related to debir, writer; evolved through ‘a book of poems’, ‘collection of literary passages’, ‘an archive’, ‘book of accounts’ and ‘collection of sheets’ to ‘an assembly’, ‘office of accounts’, ‘custom house’, ‘government bureau’ or ‘councils chamber’, to a long, cushioned seat, which in this sense entered European languages. divan presents a shift of content and meaning over time coexistent with evolving historical relationships between the East and West. d i'v a n | A Journal of Accounts offers critical interpretations on contemporary art and culture, and its broader art historical, socio-political and theoretical contexts, from the MENASA (Middle East, North Africa, South Asia), greater Asia, and Asia-Pacific regions.

ISSN 2207-1563

© Copyright 2019 Alan Cruickshank in conjunction with UNSW Art & Design, the authors and artists.

No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission.

d ɪ ' v a n | A Journal of Accounts is published biannually by DIVAN JOURNAL and UNSW Art & Design, Sydney.

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Email: artandculturejournal@gmail.com
Post: University of NSW Art & Design
Paddington Campus, Cnr Oxford St & Greens Rd,
Paddington, SYDNEY NSW 2021
Australia

The views and/or opinions expressed in d ɪ ' v a n | A Journal of Accounts are those of the contributing writers and not necessarily those of the editor, DIVAN JOURNAL or UNSW Art & Design, Sydney.

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

NANCY ADAJANIA India
Cultural theorist, editor, writer and curator, Bombay (Mumbai)

JOHN BATTEN Hong Kong
Writer and art, culture, and urban planning critic

THOMAS BERGHUIS The Netherlands/Australia
Fellow, Leiden Asia Centre, Leiden University; Principal Fellow (Honorary), School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne

DIANA CAMPBELL BETANCOURT Bangladesh
Artistic Director, Samdani Art Foundation; Chief Curator, Dhaka Art Summit, Dhaka
Artistic Director, Bellas Artes Project, Manila

FULYA ERDEMCI Turkey/The Netherlands
Curator and writer, Istanbul/Amsterdam

PATRICK FLORES The Philippines
Professor of Art Studies, University of the Philippines, Manila

BLAIR FRENCH Australia
Director, Curatorial & Digital, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney

ADAM GECZY Australia
Senior Lecturer, Sculpture and Art Theory, Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney; art critic, author, artist

PAUL GLADSTON United Kingdom
Professor, Contemporary Visual Cultures+Critical Theory, University of Nottingham

ALEXIE GLASS-KANTOR Australia
Executive Director, Artspace, Sydney

REUBEN KEEHAN Australia
Curator, Contemporary Asian Art, Queensland Art Gallery | Modern Art, Brisbane

VASIF KORTUN Turkey
Board Member, SALT, Istanbul

RAY LANGENBACH Finland
Research Fellow, Finnish Academy of Fine Art, Helsinki

SUSIE LINGHAM Singapore
Independent thinker, writer, educator, and maker in the arts

IAN MCLEAN Australia 
The Hugh Ramsay Chair of Australia Art, University of Melbourne

VALI MAHLOUJI United Kingdom
Curator, writer, critic and author, London

GUYS MANNES-ABBOTT United Kingdom
Writer, essayist and critic, London

CHARLES MEREWETHER Georgia
Curator of Contemporary Art, National Museum of Georgia, Tbilisi

NAT MULLER The Netherlands
Independent curator and critic, Amsterdam

NIKOS PAPASTERGIADIS Australia
Professor, School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne

ROBIN PECKHAM China
Editor-in-Chief, LEAP Magazine, Beijing

SIMON REES New Zealand
Director, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth

TAN BOON HUI USA
Director, Asia Society Museum; Vice President of Global Arts & Cultural Programs, Asia Society, New York

PHIL TINARI China
Director, Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, Beijing

MURTAZA VALI USA
Writer, art historian, and curator, New York

ALA YOUNIS Jordan
Curator and artist, Amman