How do cultural institutions and art practices respond to long-standing states of national and international emergency? It is with these questions in mind that Khalil Rabah's artistic practice investigates the future of visual arts production under such conditions. Exploring the relationships between historically sanctioned and experimental exhibition settings, fictional and documentative narratives, and the histories of displacement, his methods not only propose but produce speculative institutions. As the artist's first major monograph, Falling Forward / Works (1997-2025) presents a comprehensive selection of exhibition materials, previously unseen archival documents, and detailed background notes on how Rabah's methods relate to broader themes in his work. The volume also introduces new critical writing from curators, authors, and researchers on the interrelated subjects of anticipatory aesthetics, subterfuge and fugitive acts, mimicry and performativity, knowledge production, archival technologies and, crucially, the politics of humor.

One of Pakistan’s most notable contemporary artists, Bani Abidi creates videos and multimedia works that interweave autobiographical fiction with socio-political commentary and satire. Her practice explores the sobering realities of the political conditions, bureaucracy, and urban infrastructure in Asia, exposing the absurdities emerging from the dysfunctionalities of everyday life. The Artist Who is the first monograph to look at the work of this Berlin-based Pakistani artist. Envisioned as an artist project, the publication explores notions of humor, playfulness and experimentation by engaging with forms of writing, design, printing, and assembly. Containing a documentation of artworks created over two decades as well as archival material and a rich selection of texts, it represents the wide range of relationships Abidi has fostered during this period.