ABSTRACT
As feminist researchers, teachers and activists, the people recognise the need for a history of contemporary art that understands the key role feminism has played in enabling current modes of artmaking, spectatorship and theoretical discourses. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book follows the currents of feminist insights into the politics of representation from the 1970s to the present. It proposes reasons for the current importance of performance in contemporary art and contextualises this relative to historical and current feminist theory and practice. The book focuses on the strand of contemporary art that incorporates pedagogical elements and the ethics of progressive teaching. It argues the links between ‘new materialism’ and preceding feminist theory and art. The book makes a feminist analysis of public and community engaged art, including forms of social practice or participatory art, a prevalent form of contemporary art.
