SYMPOSIUM

Gen Adachi is a historian of art and society and an associate professor at Nishogakusha University. He is also the director of the Mochizuki Katsura Research Collective and codirector of the Oral History Archives of Japanese Art. His research focuses on artists who sought to go beyond the boundaries of art as well as artists who stopped working as artists. His work spans archival research, writing, editing, and exhibition making. His major publications include Anakizumu bijutsushi (Anarchist art history, 2023) and Uragirareta bijutsu (Art betrayed, 2019). He edited Atarashii onna wa shunkan de aru: Otake Beniyoshi/Tomimoto Kazue chosakushu (The new woman is a moment: The collected writings of Otake Beniyoshi/Tomimoto Kazue, 2023). He recently curated “Mochizuki Katsura: The One Who Underpins Freedom,” held at the Maruki Gallery for the Hiroshima Panels, Higashi-Matsuyama, in 2025 and the Azumino Art Museum in 2026.

Rasha Salti is a researcher, writer, and curator of art and film based in Marseille. Together with Kristine Khouri she cocurated the documentary and archival exhibition “Past Disquiet,” which traveled internationally for a decade from the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (2015) to Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (2016); the Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende, Santiago (2018); the Sursock Museum, Beirut (2018); the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town (2023–24); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2024); and Framer Framed, Amsterdam (2025). In 2022 Salti was a cocurator of the 8th Triennial of Photography, Hamburg, and was a member of the curatorial team of the 12th Berlin Biennale. She is a member of the curatorial team led by the late Koyo Kouoh for the 61st Venice Biennale, which is on view through November 22, 2026.

X Zhu-Nowell is a curator, writer, and institutional practitioner, currently serving as the executive director and chief curator of the Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai. Zhu-Nowell’s practice is shaped by relational authorship and an approach to exhibition making that foregrounds contradiction, displacement, and the labor of (mis)translation. At RAM, they have led a structural shift toward a resistant institution by advancing artist commissions, research-led practices, and radical pedagogies through initiatives such as AUUUUDITORIUM and Complex Geographies. Recent projects at RAM include “Irena Haiduk: Nula” (2025–26), which transformed the museum into an active film set and participatory economy, and “The Great Camouflage” (2025–26), an exhibition co-curated with Kandis Williams. Prior to joining RAM, Zhu-Nowell was a curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2014–21), where they organized “Wu Tsang: Anthem,” which was named one of the best exhibitions of 2021 by the New York Times.

Andrew Maerkle is a writer, editor, and translator based in Tokyo. He is currently the editorial director of Art Week Tokyo. From 2010 to 2024 he was the deputy editor of the bilingual online publication ART iT. From 2006 to 2008 he was the deputy editor of ArtAsiaPacific in New York, where he helped create the annual Almanac edition. Maerkle is a contributor to international magazines including Aperture, Art & Australia, Artforum, and frieze. His book of translations, Kishio Suga: Writings, vol. 2, 1980–1989, was published by Skira in 2025. That same year he was a coconvener of a satellite event for the 36th Bienal de São Paulo, Invocation #4: Tokyo, “Bukimi no Tani (不気味の谷): The Uncanny Valley—The Affectivity of the Humanoid,” held at multiple venues across Tokyo.