The Eden Assemblage
THE EDEN ASSEMBLAGE is a printed publication dedicated to documenting and celebrating the voices, ideas, and practices of contemporary artists and curators. In an era shaped by digital circulation, this volume creates a lasting record—preserving insights, amplifying underrepresented perspectives, and supporting the professional growth of those featured.
THE EDEN Dialogues:
When Artists Meet Writers
Art writers and critics play a vital role in interpreting and contextualizing artistic practice, shaping how works are discussed, circulated, and remembered over time. Exchanges between artists and writers open space for dialogue, expand visibility, and contribute to broader cultural and historical understanding.
This section brings together engagements between the Foundation’s artist grantees and invited writers and critics. Through these exchanges, artists’ practices are considered from multiple perspectives, allowing space for reflection, interpretation, and critical attention that extends beyond the moment of exhibition.
Melissa Joseph & Lilly Wei
Talking Art and Life
Lilly Wei is a New York-based art critic, art writer, journalist, and independent curator whose area of interest is contemporary global art. She has written regularly for publications, art institutions, and galleries in the United States and abroad and is the author of numerous articles, reviews, interviews, essays and monographs on modern and contemporary art and artists. She frequently reports on international biennials and exhibitions.
Whitney Allison Oldenburg
& Richard Vine
Waste Not, Want Not
Richard Vine is the former managing editor of Art in America and author of hundreds of critical articles, interviews, and reviews. His eight books include New China, New Art (2008) and Odd Nerdrum: Paintings, Sketches, and Drawings (2001), as well as the artworld crime novel SoHo Sins (2016). He has taught and lectured around the world, and curated exhibitions in Beijing, New Delhi, Hangzhou, and New York.
Zain Alam & Travis Diehl
Approaching Perfection
Travis Diehl is a writer, editor, and critic. He contributes regularly to the New York Times and writes the monthly column “Libra Season” for Spike. His poems appear in the Baffler and Forever. He is a recipient of the Creative Capital Arts Writers Grant and the Rabkin Prize in Visual Arts Journalism.
Curators’ Voices
This section brings together writings by the foundation’s curatorial fellows, reflecting on their research, methodologies, and evolving practices. Through essays, conversations, and other forms of writing, these contributions offer insight into curatorial thinking as it unfolds over time— shaped by sustained engagement with artworks, histories, and communities, and by writing as a space for reflection, inquiry, and dialogue.
Huma Kabakci
Freudian Bites Thanksgiving Iteration:
When does a migrant stop being a migrant?
Or when does a refugee stop being a refugee?
Yifu Liu
From West to East and Back Again:
The Re-Europeanization of Chinese Jesuit Imagery in Late 19th Century
Alice Nien-pu Ko
Faraway, Nearby: Archipelagic Proximities in Between Waves
The Eden Arts Foundation info@theedenartsfoundation.org