ABSTRACT
Providing background for the key case studies of Greece, Palestine and Australia, the Introduction introduces the framework for understanding displacement employed throughout the book and why it extends beyond communities in ‘refugee-like’ situations. Laying the foundation for forthcoming discussion and analysis, this chapter begins with a definition of key terminology used throughout the book – namely ‘praxis’, ‘cultural resilience’ and ‘displacement’.
Presenting extended discussion on key legal frameworks and historical turning points relating to displacement in the twentieth century (particularly the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol), this chapter elucidates upon the ‘coloniality of migration’. That is, how asylum and migration policies are bound to colonial histories and legal frameworks which serve to produce and reinforce hierarchical categories of migrants and refugees. The Introduction thus unfurls a key objective of the book: to highlight the ligatures that bind artistic practices which mediate diverse forms of displacement resulting from settler-colonialism, population exchange, offshore detention, and occupation. Alongside discussion of research methods and positionality of the author, the chapter concludes with an outline of key literature in the fields of art history/theory, curatorial studies, and museum studies engaged with the issue of displacement and contemporary art.
