Tony Panayiotou, Chair, Black Umbrella Trust
Third Text is a radical scholarly journal with an international reputation for excellence long served by contributions from leading writers, academics and artists. As Chair of the Trustees of Black Umbrella, I wish to see the deep-rooted traditions of Third Text maintained and advanced to engage new audiences and writers.
The aim of Third Text is to question the hegemony of Western orthodoxy and make the case for the diversity of artistic practitioners across the world. Our supporters will be aware that, in spite of inaccurate information disseminated about the journal and a long period of uncertainty and transition, our prime purpose remains unchanged.
I want to make clear my decision to serve as Chair at this critical juncture in the history of Third Text. I accepted the nomination, offered to me by the outgoing Board of Trustees, on the understanding that an Independent Review panel would soon be installed to consider and propose a structure best suited to the long-term functioning of the journal, which might be a simpler mode of administration in keeping with the journal’s collective ethos of extended editorial consultation.
I fully endorse the Independent Review process in which neither I, nor the newly appointed interim trustees and current editorial team will have any involvement, thereby to ensure that its results are publicly transparent.
We all hope that the Review will have the desired effect of supporting the journal’s continuity.
I am convinced that Third Text is poised for its renaissance.