Imaginable Worlds

A collection of essays offering a creative look at crises past, present, future, and speculative.

Starting with the shared experience of crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and a planet sieged by disaster, Imaginable Worlds transforms tragedy into a framework for research and art, imagining a shared world beyond a global experience of emergency. Produced by the Smart Museum of Art and the Projects/Processes essay collection series, an initiative launched by the Serendipity Arts Foundation in New Delhi, this volume brings together the voices of artists, authors, and public intellectuals from a range of fields and locations.

Suraj Yengde, named one of the “25 Most Influential Young Indians” by GQ Magazine; Siyanda Mohutsiwa, the brain behind the viral hashtag #IfAfricaWasABar; and Ho Tzu Nyen, the acclaimed artist behind the ongoing Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia project, are among the diverse contributors who have come together to critically engage with ideas and practices that engage with a partially known or unknown world.

Inviting fresh creative looks at crises past, imminent, immediate, and speculative, Imaginable Worlds considers questions of survival and invites us to imagine new modes of sensing, knowing, and dwelling.

About the Editor

Orianna Cacchione is the curator of global contemporary art at the Smart Museum of Art. With Wu Hung, she curated The Allure of Matter: Material Art from China, which was presented at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Smart Museum, and Wrightwood 659.