Gallery Talk Wednesday, September 10, 6:30 pm Constance Lewallen, curator of Everything Matters, will share her insights into the artist’s work—which she has followed for more than two decades. Accompanying her, Paul Kos will indicate where design is not the mother of invention, giving fortunate accidents their due.   Looking Back, Looking Beyond: Women Speak on Art, Politics, and Exile— Middle East/USA Thursday, September 25, 6:30 pm, Eisner and Lubin Auditorium, Kimmel Center for University Life, 60 Washington Square South, 4th Floor Featuring internationally celebrated feminist visual artists Shirin Neshat (Iran–USA) and Emily Jacir (Palestine–USA), and NYU cultural critics Ella Shohat (Iraq–Israel–USA) and Shiva Balaghi (Iran–USA), this roundtable discussion will examine how artistic creativity in exile is shaped by the temporal, spatial, socio-political, religious, and cultural contexts in which it is produced. Participants will reflect on the powerful combinations of exile and belonging, gender and politics, and art and displacement. Moderated by Rabab Abdulhadi. Co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality; the Center for Media, Culture and History; the General Studies Program (SCPS); the Department of Photography and Imaging (TSOA); the Center for Religion and Media; the Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies; Al-Jisser; ArteEast; the New York Council for the Humanities, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities; and the Grey Art Gallery. For more information, call 212/992-9541.   Conceptual Art: Between Idea and Experience Thursday, October 16, 6:30 pm Silver Center, Room 301 (enter at 32 Waverly Place) Between the Dada revival of the 1950s and the Minimal movement of the 1960s, the idea of the work of art grew more important while its physical realization began to seem secondary. Pepe Karmel, Associate Professor, Department of Fine Arts, will discuss the emergence of Conceptual art, and the problem of how to judge and appreciate works of art that may consist only of words or found objects. Co-sponsored by the Fine Arts Society and the Grey Art Gallery   Witnessing Time/Being Time: Consciousness as Context in Contemporary Art Thursday, October 9, 7:45 pm, Silver Center, Randolph Summerville Theatre, Room 703 (enter at 32 Waverly Place) Both the heightening of consciousness and the dimension of time play major roles in the art of Paul Kos. This panel discussion will bring together artist Marina Abramovic, curator Mary Jane Jacob, and the Venerable Losang Samten to discuss contemporary art and meditation practice. Moderated by Jacquelynn Baas, art historian and director of the consortium project “Awake: Art, Buddhism, and the Dimensions of Consciousness.” Co-sponsored by the Buddhism Project; the Center for Media, Culture and History; the Center for Religion and Media; and the Grey Art Gallery