Dr Adeena Mey

Biography

I am a scholar, editor and curator. My work engages with contemporary art and the history of exhibitions. The main strands of my research are artistic practices from the Global South, especially East and Southeast Asia, Africa, artists’ film and video, art history and theory, non-Western epistemologies, and their intersections. My exhibitions, screenings and discursive curatorial projects have been presented internationally, in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and East Asia. At UAL I have been a Research Fellow at the Afterall Research Centre and Managing Editor of Afterall Journal since 2019.

I hold a PhD in Film History and Aesthetics and an MA in Social Studies of Science and Technology from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, and an MA in Aural and Visual Cultures from Goldsmiths College, University of London. Before joining UAL, I was a post-doctoral researcher at ECAL/Lausanne University of Art and Design where I worked on the Swiss National Science Foundation funded project ‘From Video Art to New Media: VideoArt Festival Locarno (1980–2001)’.

As Editor of Afterall, I commission, edit and publish research articles, curators’ and artists’ writings that address the nexus of contemporary art and globalisation, outside of institutional canons. This puts me in the unique position of being in conversation with some of the most relevant voices in contemporary art, curating and theory. Being in this role has shaped my vision of research about and through publishing, and of sustainable platforms for new modes of writing, publishing and researching about contemporary art by authors from diverse backgrounds.

I am a regular guest speaker at international events, including Art Basel Hong Kong, the Helsinki Biennale, Centre Pompidou Paris, and Seoul Museum of Art, and I have taught at art and design universities including Aalto University, HEAD-Geneva and ECAL.