Thank you all for reading this volume of the Australia and New Zealand Journal of Art. The Journal aims to publish scholarly work generated by, and of interest to art historians in Australia, New Zealand and worldwide, and reflect the diversity and depth of art-historical practice in our region. In this open issue, our writers tackle a wide range of material and themes of both specific relevance to our region and global resonance.
The variety of submissions received presented an opportunity for us to take stock of the territory currently being traversed by art writers and researchers, and this issue covers some topical ground. The authors reflect on Indigenous art in complex and sometimes confrontational ways, adopt perspectives derived from environmental humanities to explore recent art, consider Chinese–Australian identity, and think through the importance of exhibitions and curatorship to the history of art in Australia and beyond. The essays themselves emerge from very different methodological standpoints and commitments, and the sometimes vigorous scholarly debate that characterises our community carries over to our review section. We will not always agree with each other, but Art History, wherever it is practiced, must rest on a fundamental belief in the value of scholarly review and response and an equally fundamental commitment to excellence and diversity in research. New archival and theoretical insights, new perspectives and new questions abound in this issue; evidence of an enduringly passionate and lively community of scholarship that we must strive to maintain and expand.