In today's fast-paced landscape of international news and information, it has never been more important to showcase different perspectives, voices and viewpoints. Part of being able to do this stems from the creative community’s ability and willingness to collaborate not just with like-minded individuals but with a myriad of different thinkers, philosophers and creators. To this effect, since autumn 2023, STIR has welcomed on board two new consulting arts editors: Dr Beth Citron, based in New York, and Dr Cleo Roberts-Komireddi, based in London.

By steering toward a collaborative editorial panel, STIR invites a new way of seeing, thinking, inspiring and reflecting—or as we call it: STIR-ring. The collective goal is to be a platform for critical, and oftentimes understudied, narratives in the art world. The new consulting arts editors will play a pivotal role in carrying forward this commitment to the art vertical by curating, developing and presenting stories from a range of international writers that enhance our perception of the world through the arts.

Dr Beth Citron is a New York-based curator, writer and art historian specialising in modern and contemporary South Asian art. She holds a PhD in Art History from the University of Pennsylvania and has taught in the Art History Department at New York University, from which she also earned a BA in Fine Arts. Citron has not only assumed the role of consulting editor for arts but will also train young writers to finesse their story-telling skills. Citron is also the author of the online course on modern and contemporary Indian art for MAP Academy in India and a member of its academic advisory panel. In 2019 she received an Asian Cultural Council Fellowship for research into the curatorial history of modernist art from India. Currently, Citron also works with the Indian art gallery Nature Morte on global museum relations. She was the founding curator of modern and contemporary art at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York and is a member of the board of trustees for the New York-based Association of Art Museum Curators.

Dr Cleo Roberts-Komireddi is an art historian, broadcaster and commentator. She hosts the Art Worlds podcast and is writing a book on Indian art —from prehistory to contemporary—for Yale University Press with an Association for Art History grant. Working at the intersection of writing and art education, Roberts-Komireddi encourages writers to broaden their horizons and enhance perspectives through their writing. Roberts-Komireddi writes about, and lectures on, contemporary South and Southeast Asian art and has written for leading international publications including the Financial Times, the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, the Spectator, and Frieze. She has lectured at Sotheby's Institute, Princeton University, the University of Cambridge, and the Royal Asiatic Society, and reported for BBC World Service. She sits on the academic advisory panel for MAP Academy and is the director of artist and institutional relationships at Edel Assanti.

Amit Gupta, the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of STIR, says, "STIR was founded to stir creative thought, practice, discourse and education in small but potentially impactful ways. It is grounded on breaking barriers and transcending boundaries across disciplines and geographies. Working towards sharpening our collective awareness of our interconnectedness and intersectionality across everything. We engage in close conversations with the best minds in our creative ecosystem and stay in sync with our contemporaneity. It is natural to question ourselves as we maintain an acute awareness of our contribution to what comes next."

STIR has always been an active explorer of etiquettes of storytelling to encourage knowledge dissemination and curate a platform hospitable for growth. With this new structure and modus operandi of the new editorial direction of STIR's arts coverage, the idea is to emphasise curating a voice with a lasting echo and a global resonance. Simultaneously, it ensures that the publication incubates writers and thinkers of regions yet to foster an art writing ecosystem.

On expanding the art editorial vertical, Gupta adds: "We are embarking on a new phase this year with a well-thought-out but nonetheless experimental editorial structure. We see many inspirational professionals coming together for this collective purpose, which is to strive for a more inclusive, fair, progressive and sustainable future. The team at STIR and I are excited by the possibility of what this hive intelligence will unpack for our growing community of global readers, contributors, partners, friends and comrades. I warmly welcome Dr Cleo Roberts-Komireddi and Dr Beth Citron, who mark the beginning of this shift through their commitment, alignment and enthusiasm."

To learn more, stay tuned on STIRworld.com