The Palliative Turn Number 1 is dedicated to the activities of the Association for the Palliative Turn (APT), which has been around since 2020 or 2019, depending on how you define ‘association’ and ‘ being around’. The Palliative Turn proposes a fundamental shift in our attitude towards art and culture, informed by the practices of palliative medicine and care.

APT is made up of a disparate group of professionals, mostly visual artists, but it also counts a climate scientist, a kinesiologist, a palliative practitioner, a philosopher, a doctor, and a comedian as members, who all define themselves as ‘palliatively curious’. This curiosity has resulted so far in an APT symposium, two large group exhibitions, as well as multifarious off-shoot events, discussions, appearances and now this publication. Collected within these pages are reflections on the Palliative Turn as a proposition in the form of essays, reports on APT activities, exercises, comics, jokes and thought experiments.

The first issue of The Palliative Turn magazine was conceived and produced in the context of the exhibition and program of events The Palliative Turn at Künstlerhaus Bremen. It documents APTs activities so far and features individual contributions by members of the APT. The contributions were collected by an open call to members and associates of the APT and selected by an editorial team consisting of Simon Blanck, Kasia Fudakowski, Teal Griffin, Harry Haddon, Dafna Maimon, Marit Neeb, Nadja Quante and Olav Westphalen.

With contributions by Louise Ashcroft, Monika M. Beyer, Simon Blanck, Kasia Fudakowski, Annemarie Goldschmidt, Teal Griffin, Harry Haddon, Ethan Hayes-Chute, Niki Katsara, Lars-Erik Hjertström Lappalainen, Keith Larson, Karin Kytökangas, Dafna Maimon, Marit Neeb, Laura Pientka, Nadja Quante, John-Luke Roberts, Xavier Robles de Medina, Lydia Röder, Ruth Rubers, Rose Sanyang-Hill, Maxwell Stephens, Jana Thiel and Olav Westphalen.