“Art is a guide to prolific exchanges between global cultures.” This was the slogan and mission of the “Continental Shift” exhibition; one of the largest exhibitions of the new millennium. A collaborative effort by the Ludwig Forum in Aachen (Germany), the Bonnefantenmuseum in Maastricht (Holland), the Stadsgalerij in Heerlen (Holland) and the Museum of Modern Art in Liège (Belgium), the exhibition was held from May 21 to September 10 in the border regions of these three countries, a reflection of the cultural, historical and social exchanges and differences of border areas.

In Iran Norouz marks the beginning of the year and symbolizes nature’s renewal and rebirth after the passing of winter. It is a time when humans escape their doldrums and renew their ways by engaging in social activities and group efforts in work outside the home in the fields.

Attempting to hear the dialogues in the poetry of Sohrab Sepehri, the films of ‘Abbas Kiarostami, and the sculptures of Parviz Tanavoli is an awe-inspiring, perplexing and mysterious experience. When we focus on the concept of heech, or “nothingness,” in this three-way relationship, our wonder is intensified.

The Golestan Palace ensemble is a relic of the historic Arg (governmental seat) of Tehran, where Qajar monarchs resided, and comprises several of the most beautiful ancient buildings erected in the capital during the past 200 years1.

In the winter and spring of 1974, Christian Norberg-Schulz was guest professor of Architecture at MIT and I had the chance of taking the two courses he taught during that semester.

One In recent decades the topic of the “end” or even the “death” of art has been a frequent subject of debates in aesthetics and art criticism. Although it was proliferated in its present form mainly in the United States, it of course has its historical roots in Hegel’s notion of the end of art as he developed it in the first decades of the nineteenth century.

One of the fundamental artistic categories of the twentieth century was avant-garde art. Although it was not necessarily linked to the political avant-gardes (and social theories, philosophies of history, and ideologies on which they relied) it shared with them its belief and orientation towards the future.

War and its sacrifices have repeatedly constituted the subject matter of artistic endeavors.