This piece offers a review of the 2024-2025 travelling exhibition ‘The Wandering Jew’, collecting the author’s reflections as translator and curator alongside ethnographic insights. Whilst this special issue considers the agency of minoritised groups as moveable and mobilised subjects, I play with these two characteristics to consider mythical itinerancy as both a punishment and an avenue for creative expansion. For this I draw on the benefactory figures of Georg Simmel’s ‘The Stranger’ and Leonid Livak’s ‘The Helper’. Situated within a dominant narrative of European Christianity, the legend of the Wandering Jew exemplifies fundamental questions related to Jewish cultural heritage and how it may be seen through the immateriality of memory, drawing on the empowering potential of the literary and artistic imagination particularly via methods such as collage and erasure poetry. This article includes reflections on a workshop I hosted at Limmud Festival, a Jewish community event, in 2024. I invited participants to cut up existing textual and visual representations to remake the Wandering Jew, following a tradition of using artistic practices to beautify hateful images. I examine the potential of these reappropriative practices to invoke feelings of identification and ownership.

Visual art and representation in cardiology: Past, present, and future.

This article examines the role of visual and plastic art as a key instrument for constructing and interpreting cultural space. The study synthesizes a corpus of diverse theoretical works on the interaction between art and landscape, systematizes the principal issues within the field, and proposes avenues for further discussion. It investigates how art not only reflects but also physically, visually, and semantically transforms the landscape. Functioning as a mediator between spiritual, material, and symbolic realities, art creates distinctive forms of spatial experience. Through artistic practices, the aesthetics of a landscape are formed, along with visual and semantic codes, and new centers and loci that alter the perception of the environment. On a theoretical level, the research draws upon the semiotics of space, the philosophy of art, and the concept of landscape as text. The mechanisms through which landscape is endowed with meaning—via architecture, sculpture, painting, and literature—are examined, with a focus on narrative and symbolic modes of artistic interpretation. Particular attention is paid to art as a tool for shaping cultural memory, from memorial complexes to heritage museums, which become spaces of a different temporality and “reservations” of meaning. The cultural landscape is a site of interaction between the sacred and the profane, tradition and innovation, and elite and mass art. Art forms the codes for reading the landscape, translating visual characteristics—color, form, the vertical, the horizontal—into the realm of cultural significance. Thus, art is presented as a form of world reconstruction: an instrument for the spiritual and semantic appropriation of space, one that transforms the landscape into a text perpetually rewritten by culture.

Generation Alpha, growing up in a digital environment, has unique characteristics in expressing creativity through visual arts. This research aims to explore how drawing creation can serve as an effective medium to enhance the creative potential of Generation Alpha children. The research method employed a mixed-method approach with 12 child participants from Sanggar Rumah Kreatifa 443 Semarang aged 6-11 years. Data were collected through participatory observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation of artworks, then analyzed using the Miles & Huberman interactive model. Results showed artwork visualization dominated by natural landscape themes (41.7%), digital characters (16.7%), and social activities (13.9%). Typological analysis revealed visual type dominance (50%) with Mini-C Creativity level appropriate to developmental stages, distributed in good (50%), moderate (41.7%), and fair (8.3%) categories. Unique characteristics of Generation Alpha manifested in the ability to integrate digital experiences with traditional media, openness to technology themes, and strong individual expression. Conducive learning environments with individual approaches and community support proved crucial in optimizing creative potential. Findings confirm that Generation Alpha creativity develops through systemic interactions between generational characteristics, individual typology, and responsive environmental support.

Abstract This article explores the representation of silvopastoral systems in European art from the 16th to the nineteenth century, with a specific focus on ruminant livestock grazing in wooded environments. Drawing from a wide interdisciplinary body of literature in agroforestry, environmental history and art history, this study adopts a scoping review approach combined with visual analysis of selected artworks. While not a systematic review, it synthesizes existing scientific knowledge on silvopastoralism (defined as the integration of trees, forage, and livestock) and applies this lens to historical paintings. By analyzing key botanical, forestry, zootechnical and land use elements in selected works, the research highlights the relationship between humans, animals, and natural ecosystems as captured through visual art. Particular attention is given to silvopastoral elements such as grazing patterns, tree cover, and animal breeds. Methodologically, the paper integrates knowledge from plant and animal sciences, ecology, and livestock management to assess how these elements are portrayed. The study indicates how artistic depictions provide valuable insights into historical land-use practices, animal husbandry, tree species, and rural socio-ecological dynamics that shape the European agroforestry heritage.

中文： 宋代是儒、释、道三教关系走向深度融合的关键时期，“三教合一”思潮不仅体现在思想层面，更在视觉艺术领域产生了极具代表性的文化产物——“三教图”。首先，从思想史背景来看，学界对宋代三教融合之理论内涵、各阶层实践及其社会文化影响的探讨，为理解三教图提供宏观语境。其次，学界聚焦于三教图本身，针对《三教图》《虎溪三笑图》等经典画作的个案研究，涵盖其图像志、风格流变、意识形态隐喻及艺术本体分析。再次，学界考察三教图在后世的题咏、地域文化建构以及在朝鲜、日本等东亚地区的传播与接受情况，展现其跨时空的文化影响力。总之，当前研究在整体性观照、社会维度分析及跨学科整合方面存在不足，未来可系统考察宋代三教图作为一种视觉叙事体系，如何主动参与并塑造了宋人的信仰秩序与文化观念。 English： The Song Dynasty marked a pivotal period in the profound integration of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. The “Three Teachings in Unity” movement manifested not only intellectually but also produced highly representative cultural artefacts in the visual arts: the “Three Teachings Diagrams”. Firstly, from the perspective of intellectual history, scholarly discussions on the theoretical underpinnings of the Three Teachings synthesis in the Song Dynasty, its practice across social strata, and its socio-cultural impact provide a macro-context for understanding the Three Teaching Paintings. Secondly, academic focus has centred on the paintings themselves, with case studies of classic works such as the Three Teaching Paintings and the Tiger-Creek Three-Laughter Picture covering iconography, stylistic evolution, ideological metaphor, and artistic analysis. Thirdly, scholarship examines the Three Teachings paintings' subsequent poetic inscriptions, their role in regional cultural construction, and their dissemination and reception across East Asia—including Korea and Japan—demonstrating their trans-temporal cultural influence. In summary, current research exhibits shortcomings in holistic observation, socio-historical analysis, and interdisciplinary integration. Future studies may systematically investigate how the Song Dynasty's Three Teachings paintings, as a visual narrative system, actively participated in and shaped contemporary Song beliefs and cultural concepts.

Bias against artificial intelligence in visual art: A meta-analysis.

This article analyses the postmemorial remediation of archival photographs as a strategy of memory activism aimed at challenging collective perceptions of traumatic histories. Drawing on scholarly literature concerning postconflict visual arts (Rosenberg, 2016; Catela, 2024; Monegal, 2016) and memory studies (Rigney, 2020; Rothberg, 2019; Hirsch, 2012), it examines two artworks by Latin American artists Marcelo Brodsky and Aparecidos Políticos. The discussion explores how archival images can be creatively reinterpreted to animate repertoires of memory activism. It is proposed that these artworks utilise the capacity of photographs to emphasise the dialectic between past and present, and through postmemorial remediation, they draw attention to the enduring effects of human rights violations. Beyond the analysis of these works, the article also considers their placement in Hunar’s Missing Time exhibition and how the exhibition’s rationale situated them within the gallery space and in relation to each other. It is argued that their exhibition alongside international artworks depicting both historical and contemporary injustices has the potential to suggest geographic and generational linkages within systems of oppression. Nonetheless, there is a risk of unintentionally reinforcing these oppressions if it fails to foreground the imperial and colonial histories that underpin them. Overall, the article investigates how postmemorial remediations of victims’ photographs can complicate memory dynamics, promote identification, and implicate viewers in historical human rights violations. This investigation expands by examining how the presentation of victims’ photographs within an art gallery may inadvertently elevate the moral standing of viewers while absolving them of responsibility for their indifference (Rosenberg, 2016), especially if a clear connection between individual stories and broader systemic forms of oppression is not established.

Art, in all its diverse forms, has the potential to serve as a powerful tool for reflecting upon global conflicts. In particular, posters have been used worldwide to generate awareness about wars, gaining significant momentum during the Vietnam anti-war campaigns in the 1960s. The production of posters involves a broad array of actors from various backgrounds, including political parties, student movements, and humanitarian agencies. In this paper, I examine the use of posters by the Italian social centre Forte Prenestino to communicate and raise awareness about the conflict that has impacted Western Kurdistan between 2011 and 2024. Specifically, Forte Prenestino’s posters have promoted events supporting the Kurdish population, and in particular the women living in Rojava—a Syrian region in Western Kurdistan. The conflict in Rojava was part of the Syrian civil war that began in 2011 and ended with the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Despite the end of Assad’s rule, the region continues to experience the effects of military operations, and the civilian population in Rojava persists in grappling with socio-economic challenges and safety concerns. My decision to focus on Forte Prenestino’s posters is based on the observation that the posters produced by Italian social centres are frequently overlooked in academic discussions concerning this form of visual art. Despite this oversight, such materials have been used by social centres as their primary means of communication with the public since their origins. Social centres, which emerged in Italy during the 1970s, are self-managed, occupied spaces for political, cultural, and social experimentations. They represent an example of urban social movement practices aiming at producing grassroots urban regeneration of abandoned spaces. The social centre Forte Prenestino, in Rome, is the biggest social centre in Europe and one of the oldest in Italy. It was established in 1986, and over the years, its activists have consistently used posters to promote its diverse array of activities and events, including initiatives aimed at supporting individuals affected by wars.

In this essay we share the processes of collaboration in visual arts and memory through which we have engaged with the Coletivo Puta Davida. Among the potentialities and contours of the alliances, we highlight the importance of critical reflection and an interrogative attitude, from the positionalities of the world we inhabit, as a key element for consolidating coalition strategies. We understand that the alliance with the movement must be woven relationally between knowledge and lived experience. Efforts must converge to enhance the vocalities of the activism of the prostitutes’ movement. Through artistic devices that reach and circulate in different social spaces, we have developed, in partnership with members of the Coletivo, activations of the documentary content of the Arquivo Davida that can contribute to breaking down stigma, building empathy, and making progress in the macro and micro-political fields.

ABSTRACT This paper examines how competing ‘publics’ emerge through visual art practices in Kochi, India, where the interplay of gaze, urban space, and art institutions transforms local narratives into contested sites of representation. It investigates how intimate narratives of Kochi’s marginalized communities are visually mediated within the city’s postcolonial art economy, revealing how art institutions transform local lived experience into objects of voyeuristic consumption. The study identifies two competing art publics in Kochi: ‘intimate publics’, shaped by community-embedded visual narratives, and ‘strange publics’, formed by global art tourism. The paper argues that the interaction between these two publics perpetuates a voyeuristic gaze, even in well-intentioned community art. Employing ethnographic analysis, the study focuses on Riyas Komu’s exhibition Mattancherry as a critical case of community-oriented curation and artworks from the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. Archives include brochures, photographs, and field notes, analyzed through content and formal analysis.

This study develops the Multicultural Traditional Craft Interactive Module (Mc-TCIM) as an alternative pedagogical tool to foster culturally responsive teaching in secondary Visual Arts Education. Using the Fuzzy Delphi Technique, expert consensus was obtained on suitable elements, strategies, and content for the module. The findings highlight the inclusion of Malaysian traditional crafts from Sabah, Sarawak, and the Orang Asli, alongside interactive multimedia, to enhance engagement and cater to diverse learning styles. Mc-TCIM provides educators with a framework to integrate multicultural values, promoting cultural sensitivity, collaboration, and appreciation of Malaysia’s heritage.

The effects that climate change is having on current and future generations are multifaceted, with new repercussions constantly surfacing that put human and environmental health at a low point. Due to their oblivious environmental practices, rural areas are more susceptible to climate effects. The language used in communication is examined to determine how effective it is at guiding people through this natural slip to promote understanding of climate causes, mitigation, and adaptation. To encourage environmental awareness and action, it also becomes important to record indigenous languages. In Jos North, Plateau State, Nigeria, the study examines decolonising the Language of Climate Communication for Sustainable Environmental Management. With a foundation in Participatory Communication Theory, the study employed a combination of questionnaires and Focused Group Discussions (FGD) to gather data. Seven wards in the research area were used to distribute a total of 70 questionnaires to 70 responders. Sixty-seven completed surveys were validly returned for constructive analysis. Simple percentages were used to analyse the data and record it in tables. Thirty-five people participated in FDG, five of them represented each of the seven wards. Respondents stressed the importance of using indigenous languages to teach them about the causes, effects, mitigation strategies, and adaptation measures of climate change. The dissemination of information tends to resonate with them, instilling a sense of identity and inspiring them to take action. The study came to the conclusion that to increase participation in climate discussions, rural people must be included, and the best communication channel should be used. To guarantee complete inclusivity in promoting environmental sustainability, it was suggested that both governmental and non-governmental actors urgently need to enhance climate change communication in indigenous languages, employing visual, aural, and graphic arts, whenever possible, with cultural signs.

This study evaluates the usability and suitability of the Patrio Playmat as a culturally responsive teaching tool to enhance students’ and teachers’ awareness of Malaysia’s multicultural diversity and biodiversity. The Patrio Playmat, inspired by board games, is an interactive learning mat featuring multicultural themes and endangered Malaysian animal species as game components. Guided by SMART goals (Rubin, 2002) and Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory, the study employed a design developmental research approach using case study methods. Data was collected through interviews and questionnaires with three secondary school Visual Arts Education teachers in Shah Alam, Selangor.

The mythical imagination, through its logos spermaticos, survives through its narrative metamorphoses, rewriting itself with each story. Our study aims to highlight Mircea Eliade’s ideas concerning the creative relationship between myth and literature, between myth and art in general. The first part is devoted to the theoretical aspect through which the researcher shows how the narrative scenarios of myth develop in literature (short stories, tales, novels) in new forms resulting from a generative structure of the imagination that constitutes the human psyche. Literature, and art in general, acquire renewed significance as forms of “adaptation narratives” that generate new meanings, becoming a new act of culture and converting magical properties into ethical and aesthetic dimensions. The second part illustrates these ideas through the literary creations of the writer Mircea Eliade. It focuses on the myth of eternal youth in the short story Youth Without Youth, through which the author expresses his desire to find an original formula that would unify the plausibility of science fiction imagery with the mythological elements of fantasy literature in general, in order to reconstruct an archaic theme: the mystery of obtaining immortality. Here, as in other literary texts, he draws on his erudition in the fields of Indian culture, linguistics, philosophy, mythology, and scientific fields such as biology, medicine, physics, etc. The third part illustrates the leap from one artistic creation to another through the 2007 film adaptation of his short story Youth Without Youth by the great American filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola. Our analysis attempts to highlight the continuity between the short story and the film in terms of the mythical narrative, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the creative discontinuity through the synchrony and diachrony of cinematic images in the filmmaker’s artistic vision.

The Renaissance (14th-17th centuries) marked a crucial period in the transition of European culture and art from a "theocentric" to a "humanistic" approach. Opera, as a comprehensive art form integrating music, drama, literature, and visual arts, was not born by chance, but rather the result of the combined influence of social culture, artistic trends, and musical technology during this period. This article focuses on early Italian opera from the late 16th century to the 1620s. Through a review of literature and analysis of historical context, it explores the social and cultural drivers of opera's origins and the practical contributions of its core driving groups. It systematically analyzes the vocal forms, accompaniment characteristics, subject matter, and structural logic of early opera. Using representative works such as Monteverdi's "Orfeo" as case studies, it reconstructs the evolution of early opera from its "prototypical exploration" to its "formal maturity." Research has found that the humanistic ideologies of the Renaissance provided the theoretical basis for opera's "revival of classical tragedy." The rise of tonal music resolved the contradiction between polyphonic music and dramatic expression, while aristocratic patronage provided practical support for operatic creation. Early opera used recitative as its core vocal medium and basso continuo as its primary accompaniment. Its themes were often drawn from ancient Greek and Roman mythology. Although its form was not fully finalized, it laid the core framework for the commercialization and stylization of opera in the mid-to-late 17th century.

Understanding the cognitive mechanisms and decision-making processes involved in aesthetic judgement of visual art has become a growing focus in recent research. While eye movements have been strongly associated with impression evaluations, the underlying processes linking gaze behaviour and aesthetic experience remain underexplored. Recent discourse suggests that compositional strategies in artworks may guide viewers' gaze and support narrative understanding. We hypothesised that the more closely a viewer's gaze follows the artist's intended compositional path, the better they comprehend the artwork's intention and context, thereby enriching their aesthetic experience. This process is defined as RAIC (Reading an Artist's Intention from the Composition). We collected 30-s eye-tracking data from 48 participants who viewed 12 Japanese woodblock landscape prints (Ukiyo-e). These artworks were selected from a preliminary study of 101 prints, based on the six highest and six lowest aesthetic ratings. Eye movements were segmented into 3-s intervals. Using the VBHEM algorithm, a variational Bayesian extension of the Eye Movement Hidden Markov Model (EMHMM), we evaluated the similarity between participants' gaze sequences and expert-estimated scanpaths provided by specialists from the Japanese Painting Conservation and Restoration Laboratory of the Tokyo University of the Arts. Pupil size was analysed as an index of perceptual fluency. Artworks with compositional structures aligned with expert scanpaths enabled viewers to better interpret the artist's intention, promoting deeper aesthetic engagement. Additionally, high-rated artworks elicited greater perceptual fluency. These findings support the RAIC hypothesis, suggesting that guided visual exploration facilitates interpretation of artistic intention and contributes to a more meaningful aesthetic experience.

ABSTRACT This paper analyzes the potential paradox of Indigenous visual art in Canadian cultural statecraft through Kent Monkman’s exhibitions at the Canadian Cultural Centre (Paris, 2018) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 2019–2021). In doing so, it introduces a new framework for cultural statecraft that distinguishes ‘visual art for diplomacy’ from ‘diplomacy for visual art,’ highlighting active and passive modes of cultural and knowledge diplomacy. Monkman’s work embeds critiques of colonialism, settler institutions, and contested sovereignty. This complicates the state’s instrumental use of cultural producers to advance its foreign policy agenda. Drawing on concepts such as ‘relational diplomacy’ and Indigenous approaches to diplomacy, this analysis shows how the meta-messages in Monkman’s art – Indigenous resilience, inclusive diversity, and universal Indigenous values – have a curiously paradoxical effect. Monkman’s exhibitions illustrate how Indigenous artists have the potential to recast even the most pointed critiques of Canada into soft power and meta – soft power.

ABSTRACT This article delves into the historical development of skywriting as an artistic practice, its intersection with the fields of propaganda and art, and the political dilemmas surrounding its use. I examine skywriting in diverse aesthetic fields such as conceptual art, land art, visual arts, and poetry, highlighting its poetic and political power. I argue that skywriting as an artistic practice serves as a catalyst where the sky becomes more than just a platform for creation or mass communication, as is the case when used for practical purposes such as propaganda or as a tool of war. Due to its temporary and unstable nature, skywriting as a form of art becomes an artificial wonder, expanding the limits of time and space to reflect the world's symbolic, social, and political dimensions.

Visual art education for students with gifts and talents is a topic rarely explored by researchers. Many researchers examined how giftedness is defined in different cultures, but few studied the differences in services provided for students identified with gifts and talents. A comparison of visual art education in China and the United States highlighted how different cultures emphasized different aspects of visual art ability and developed different systems to cultivate artistic talent. This study explored the differences and similarities in visual art teaching in both countries, focusing on key skills that Chinese art teachers prioritize, ways that Chinese high schools support talented students, and the roles of art teachers in both countries. Using content analysis, this study examined the art curriculum standards, national policy documents on visual arts, authoritative analyses, and the official websites of five representative art universities and high schools. The findings highlighted China's emphasis on technical proficiency in art education, contrasting with the United States' focus on self-awareness and creative expression. These differences shaped art education provided for students with gifts and talents in visual arts and the students’ development in both countries, offering valuable insights for educators and policymakers.