Here we understand cultural and artistic practices as not separated from but rather crucially framed by and shaping social and political processes. The connection between aesthetics and politics is observed in diverse locales, national and transnational settings, and by way of a transhistorical approach that reflects on changes and continuities across time and space. Importantly, we focus on heritage and memory as ongoing, active legacy of the past in the present. Issues of materiality, objectivity/subjectivity, the power of visual cultures, sustainability/climate crisis, and social justice (race, coloniality, intersectionality) are also core concerns. A combination of anthropological, sociological, cultural-analytic and historical frameworks are used to study these developments.