HOW DO SOUTH ASIAN DIASPORA ARTISTS BELONG to multiple geo-cultural contexts - the countries they were born in and the countries where they work, the countries they have migrated from and the countries they have settled in? The constant and continuous give-and-take between identity propositions; the various social, political and cultural influences dynamising ideas of the self; and the critical acts of negotiation between the home and the world have energized South Asian Diaspora art in extraordinary ways. How does it exist as a category and how does it host critical debates between the local and the global, the past and the present?

In the Lead Essays this time, we have Sharmistha Ray perceptively exploring some of the thematic networks branching through South Asian Diaspora art while Shaheen Merali assesses the politics of curatorial interventions - of representing art coming out of post-colonial contexts. We carry profiles of key artists. Laura Steward introduces Rina Banerjee's ingeniously conceived and menacingly decorative works; Gary Carsley reveals the inter-connections between assorted cultural worlds in Singapore-born Simryn Gill's art; Tom Finkelpearl traces Jaishri Abichandani's journey as a spirited organizer of South Asian art initiatives in New York and as a committed artist investigating gender issues and social transformations. We had carried a profile of Abichandani's SAWCC in the Gallery issue; in this issue, Kristy Phillips traces the growth of SAVAC in Canada.

Deirdre King visits Green Cardamom in London and reviews the success of its initiatives. In the Lead Feature, she urges us to reinvigorate our understanding of Diaspora art as she engages with the South Asian art scene in London. She also responds to Indian Highway, the blockbuster exhibition of Indian art in the city. Quddus Mirza in his Letter from Pakistan looks at the anxieties of influence suffered by homegrown and diasporic Pakistani artists. Sonal Shah interviews London-based film-maker Alia Syed; the Singh Twins discuss their membership of Indian, Sikh and British worlds in another piece. We also carry reviews of two shows featuring South Asian Diaspora art in New York as P. Mansaram walks us down memory lane to the Indian art scene in the city in the '60s and the '70s.

As always, we carry our regular features, reports and reviews.

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