Since its conception, Bidoun has aimed to be an open space for visual artists, writers, and the occasional armchair commentator to ponder questions that they might otherwise not be able to, to express themselves in the particular and even peculiar context of a glossy arts and culture magazine that floats about the Middle East and beyond.

Given that tradition, our Fall issue is filled with the words, thoughts, and images of fourteen artists/collectives under the wide open rubric of Project. From the beginning, we found the many definitions of the word “project” — supple, elusive, and promising as it is — especially relevant to the work at hand. Project: A task, a scheme, a public undertaking, public housing, to throw or cast, to jut out, to gauge or estimate, to make oneself heard clearly, and also to mistake one’s subjective view for reality, to make an image appear on the surface.

As ever, Bidoun aims to be a repository for original, relevant, and idiosyncratic expression.