Contributor(s): Dr Anthony Downey | Since the turn of the 21st century, contemporary artists have increasingly engaged with some of the most pressing issues facing our world, from globalisation, migration and citizenship to conflict, terrorism and social activism. In this talk, Dr Anthony Downey explores the implications of this development, for both art and politics alike. Art and Politics Now by Anthony Downey is published by Thames & Hudson (@thamesandhudson) on 13 October. Anthony Downey is an academic and writer. He is the editor of Uncommon Grounds: New Media and Critical Practice in North Africa and the Middle East (I.B. Tauris, 2014); and co-editor of The Future of a Promise: Contemporary Art from the Arab World (Ibraaz Publishing, 2011). He is currently editing Archival Dissonance: Knowledge Production and Art Practices in the Middle East (forthcoming, I.B. Tauris, 2015) and Mirrors for Princes (NYU Press, forthcoming 2015). He is the Director of the Contemporary Art Masters Programme at Sothebys Institute of Art, London, and the Editor in Chief of Ibraaz (www.ibraaz.org), a research forum on visual culture across the Middle East and North Africa. Credits: LSE AV Services (Audio Recording).