At the end of my thirtieth year as the editor of Artlink, I am proud to introduce you to new writing by contemporary thinkers who have helped to shape the way we understand the 'art life' in 2010.

Entitled 'STIRRING II' this issue gives space to arguments about a range of current debates engaged with new art from our region.

Nicely extending the focus of our September issue on new attitudes to art in the public arena, Felicity Fenner’s feature is based on research for the Hothouse Symposium on sustainable art and design, an endeavour being supported by enlightened university art research departments around the world. University art education is a perennial subject and Jane Goodall who worked within the system for many years provides us with a perspicacious view from outside the walls of academe.

Where would we be without sport? If by sport we mean the contact sports that seem to define Australia and New Zealand, possibly in better physical shape. Peter Hill keeps his knees and collarbone safe but risks all in his contact with those who believe that art and sport can create synergy.

Donald Brook’s ‘phenomenal’ text will have us looking at the blue of the sky in quite a different way, while Kevin Murray goes to the Pacific to give us another kind of overview of how we regard the world in our attitudes to new arrivals crossing the ‘moat’.

A writer who has spent a decade looking out across the moat in her research into 100 years of Asian art is Alison Carroll. A long review by Pat Hoffie of her new book forms part of a section of fearless reviews of new art publications.

Djon Mundine has always been a curator with a burning desire to communicate and create changes in attitude and practice. The dilemma of how it is decided who can curate certain Indigenous Australian cultural objects from the past is laid bare in a rare case history which curators and writers will especially appreciate.

2010 has been a rich year of exhibitions around the nation. As always, Artlink looks far and wide for new curating and offers expert feedback to artists and curators. The archive of exhibition reviews available in print and online (all review texts are uploaded in full) is a massive resource for scholars and students alike, going back for 15 years. The active field is enormous, and we are necessarily selective in what we review, but we are happy to claim that the range of content, region, place and mood in the showings of new art critically appraised by Artlink in each issue, and the consistent and thorough way in which it is done is a key part of the creative cycle in contemporary art in Australasia.