Introduction

Abstract

This special issue of Visual Resources examines the ongoing debates about art and urban imaginary by connecting the city with its past and its present. Cities are constantly envisioned throughout history in diverse ways. In the global era, the reimagining of the city involves a process where art and the urban imaginary are recognized as far more mutually constitutive than ever. The globalizing cities necessitate the urban imaginary to restructure its transnational, historical, and cultural conditioning in terms of mapping the global hierarchy. Surely reimagining the city as a multilayered process is not simply a branding strategy. Not only are the cities structured in different forms of representation and imaginaries they are also themselves spaces of imagination and creativity. Hence urban imaginary and art are interwoven in countless ways in the city to reveal or conceal multiple stories. The five essays collected here propose new interpretations on the dynamic ways of producing urban representation interlaced with the contemporary art world, the urban visual culture, as well as its institutions, such as museums, biennials, exhibitions, and cultural events.