How do cultural institutions and art practices respond to long-standing states of national and international emergency? It is with these questions in mind that Khalil Rabah’s artistic practice investigates the future of visual arts production under such conditions. Exploring the relationships between historically sanctioned and experimental exhibition settings, fictional and documentative narratives, and the histories of displacement, his methods not only propose but produce speculative institutions. As the artist’s first major monograph, Falling Forward / Works (1997–2025) presents a comprehensive selection of exhibition materials, previously unseen archival documents, and detailed background notes on how Rabah’s methods relate to broader themes in his work. The volume also introduces new critical writing from curators, authors, and researchers on the interrelated subjects of anticipatory aesthetics, subterfuge and fugitive acts, mimicry and performativity, knowledge production, archival technologies and, crucially, the politics of humor.

Text by: Chiara De Cesari, Tom Holert, Chrisoula Lionis, Hoor Al Qasimi, Khalil Rabah, Rasha Salti
Designed by: Kemistry