The 12th International’s accompanying catalogue is edited by Curator Cecilia Alemani. This volume includes an essay from the Curator, alongside new critical essays from two exceptional writers—Estevan Rael-Gálvez and Alicia Inez Guzmán—considering the history of the Southwest in relation to contemporary art. Each participating artist appears with an original text and a selection of images. The “figures of interest” are introduced by a piece of newly commissioned creative writing or by reprinted texts. This richly illustrated catalogue includes a vast selection of installation views to document the different partner venues and the newly commissioned, site-specific projects.

Alemani’s text introduces the exhibition and curatorial methodology. An essay by Estevan Rael-Gálvez—an anthropologist, historian, and scholar of Indigenous slavery—draws connections between key figures, the exhibition’s off-site venues, and the region’s history. Journalist, art historian, and curator Alicia Inez Guzmán looks at energy in New Mexico from two directions: first, as a metaphysical force that inspired many artists to move to the state; and second, as emblematic of the region’s long-standing relationship to the nuclear-industrial complex.

Many figures of interest are interpreted by some of the most exciting writers working today, including Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Alicia Inez Guzmán, Lucy R. Lippard, Stefano Mudu, Tommy Orange, Estevan Rael-Gálvez, Luci Tapahonso, Kirstin Valdez Quade, and Karen Tei Yamashita. Other figures are accompanied by reprinted texts from iconic writers such as Rudolfo Anaya, Ted Chiang, and N. Scott Momaday.

The artists participating in the exhibition are introduced by a series of original texts authored by Brandee Caoba, Marina Caron, Marie Catalano, Lexington Davis, Sophia Larigakis, Jonathan Mandel, Samantha Manion-Chavez, Sophie Rose, and Pallavi Surana. Each artist’s written entry is illustrated with color plates.