Special section editorial

Stairways and Ruins

Abstract

The project titled Stairways and Ruins was a three-year initiative undertaken by the research entity ViNCO (Visual Narratives and Creative Outputs) at North-West University. Stairways and Ruins is the fourth collaborative practice-led research project undertaken by artists and researchers through an open call for participation. The final stage of this practice-led research culminated in this special section of Image & Text (post-production phase), where artists and scholars (who did or did not participate in the exhibition itself) were asked to submit abstracts and subsequently articles on works featured in the exhibition, or on other works and discourses related to the themes emanating from Stairways and Ruins as prompts. Image & Text provided ViNCO with the opportunity to collaborate on this special section of the journal. This project, in collaboration with Image & Text, presents an opportunity for members of ViNCO, as well as participating artists and authors, to have their artworks showcased in a large-scale exhibition. At the same time, scholars are presented with an opportunity to publish scholarly articles on newly produced artworks or to explore tangential themes emanating from their current research foci. The themes covered in this special section encompass topics related to dystopia, memorialisation, gender identity, fragility, loss, an artistic conversation, graphic histories, and so on.