What is the relationship of an artwork to the sociopolitical context in which that work was created? James Westcott discusses how Thomas Hirschhorn in Superficial Engagement reproduces the violence of war propaganda. Magda Romanska analyzes the trial in Poland of Dorota Nieznalska, accused of “offending religious feelings” with her work Passion . Ilka Saal reports on the 15th International Istanbul Theater Festival where emerging artists break with both the state and aging Western notions of the avantgarde.