alone together: Letter from the Editor

Dear Reader, 

HASTA Magazine is happy to present, in lieu of our traditional print edition, our online edition: alone together. The responses of HASTA staff writers to the theme will be posted throughout May in an effort to continue the tradition of the print edition under very different circumstances. 

Our theme, alone together, was theorized in response to the realities of the past year, which was marked both by isolation and profound solidarity and togetherness. Throughout history, art has been used to grapple with (or extol) isolation; think of the figure of the tortured and reclusive artistic genius which has animated so much of art history (see, for example, Van Gogh, Munch, or Pollock). For formerly incarcerated artists such as Ai Wei Wei and Ibrahim El-Salahi, art was used to reflect upon and express the extreme isolation and distress experienced during their incarceration.

Art has also been historically used to express activist aims and critique oppressive power structures. From the iconic imagery created by Emory Douglas for the Black Panthers to the Guerrilla Girls’ radical museological interventions to Gran Fury’s consciousness-raising efforts during the HIV/AIDS epidemic (to name only a few), art served as a powerful means through which to express discontent, propose alternative solutions and foster public awareness. It is to these historic and cultural conditions which the writers featured within this online edition are responding. 

I would like to thank all of HASTA’s staff writers for their continued dedication to HASTA despite very challenging circumstances. I would also like to recognize and congratulate our graduating staff: Eilís Marieke Doolan, Anna Niederlander, James Rodgers, Lori Stranger, Joe Sperrin, Tia Merotto, Gabriella Sotiriou and Jodie Costello. 

It has been a pleasure and an honour to be HASTA’s manager this year and I greatly look forward to watching HASTA continue to grow in the future! 

Aliza Wall 

Managing Editor