The Oracle

On Fantasy and Freedom

Chus Martinez

$80

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Sternberg Press
05 January 2026

Theory of art

On the potential regeneration of democracy- how artists can work toward a sense of collective relevance required to face the future's dark challenges.

On the potential regeneration of democracy- how artists can work toward a sense of collective relevance required to face the future's dark challenges.

People often ask themselves what exhibitions are for. The obvious answer is to see art-but they are also tools to help us regenerate our social fabric. Observing artworks in a given context can heighten our awareness of the ways in which we perceive the world more generally. In challenging and depressing times, especially, art experiences offer the possibility of finding a language and a voice to articulate increasingly scarce causes for optimism. Published on the occasion of the 36th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts, The Oracle examines the ways in which art and culture can play a key role in the regeneration of democracy-toward a new sense of individual and collective freedom, of relevance and agency, and of belonging and loyalty to the values that we need to live in peace.

Contributors Sadie Plant, Manca Renko, Renata Saleci, Svetlanan Slapsack, Maja Steger

Edited by: Chus Martinez
Imprint: Sternberg Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 140mm,
Weight: 369g
ISBN: 9781915609779
ISBN 10: 1915609771
Pages: 360
Publication Date: 05 January 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Born in Spain, Chus Martinez has a background in philosophy and art history. She is Head of the Institute Art Gender Nature, Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW (Switzerland), associate curator of TBA21 (Madrid/Venice), and Artistic Director of the 36th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts. She has been the Chief Curator at El Museo Del Barrio, New York, dOCUMENTA (13) Head of Department, Chief Curator at MACBA, Barcelona, and Director of the Frankfurter Kunstverein. Recent publications include The Complex Answer- On Art as a Non-Binary Intelligence (Sternberg Press, 2023), Like This- Natural Intelligence As Seen by Art (2022), and Coding Care (edited with Sabine Himmelsbach) (Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2022).