Art Histories

The history of art is, in many ways, the history of humanity itself. From drawings on cave walls to painted masterpieces, from photographs capturing iconic events to slashed canvases, art has documented the evolution of society and given form to the most profound but intangible moments of our collective story. Although art, like the artists behind it, can be deceptive. It has long been used to craft idealised narratives, to obscure inconvenient truths and to shape memory as much as it has been used to preserve it. In amongst this chaos lie deeper questions not just about how art interrogates the nature of being, but also how it constructs identity, influencing how people see themselves—or whether they are allowed to see themselves at all.