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On behalf of everyone involved in the development of "Distant Relations," I would like to thank, firstly, all the participating artists, authors, and composers for their time and commitment. It is their thought-provoking ideas that have generated the energy for this cultural dialogue, and their vision that has enabled me to take this project from an idea and make it a reality. Over a four-year period, a great many people in Ireland, England, the United States, and Mexico have invested their time and enthusiasm; this exhibition and publication could not have been realised without their support.

It has been a long and complex process from my initial discussions with Elizabeth Macgregor, Director of the Ikon Gallery, to where we are today; without her commitment and belief in this project there would be no exhibition. Thomas Rhoads, Director of the Santa Monica Museum of Art, has also given me consistent advice and encouragement, and his staff at the museum have assisted in writing copious grant applications and have spent hours of their time discussing this project with me. I would also like to thank Jenni Lomax, Director of the Camden Arts Centre; Declan McGonagle, Director of the Irish Museum of Art; and Sylvia Pandolfi Elliman, Director of Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Carrillo Gil, for believing in this exhibition and lending the support of their institutions.

I am extremely grateful to Luke Gibbons in Ireland, who has been an invaluable source of ideas, and who extended himself way beyond the role of an advisor; Ambassador Hermilo Lopéz Bassols, who took this project under his wing and energetically helped us secure funding from Mexico, as well as making available the resources of his embassy to me on my many trips to Ireland; Pilar Perez, my friend and colleague here in Los Angeles, whose unflagging enthusiasm and commitment have made this publication a reality.

I would also like to acknowledge the advisors for this project who lent their names and support from the beginning: Paul Muldoon; Joan Fowler; Luke Gibbons; Janet Madden; Helena Maria Viramontes; Mike Davis; David Lloyd; Edward Leffingwell; and Lucy Lippard.

In Mexico, I have been fortunate enough to have had the support of individual women who have been committed to making this exhibition and catalogue a reality, and have helped us despite the pressures of a major economic crisis: Marcela Ramirez, Cultural Officer of the British Council in Mexico; Marcela S. de Madariaga, Program Coordinator at the Fideicomiso para La Cultura, México/USA; Beatrice Margain, Director of Cultural Communications at Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, and her assistant Maria Eugenia Rabadan; and Alejandra de la Paz, Minister for Cultural Affairs at the Mexican Embassy, London. I would also like to thank Rafael Tovar y de Teresa, President of the Consejo Nacional para La Cultura y Las Artes, for his commitment to bringing this exhibition to Mexico.

Over the last four years, many of us involved with "Distant Rela-tions/Cercanías Distantes/Clann i gCéin" travelled between Mexico, Ireland, California, and England for our research. We especially wish to thank Yolanda Andrade; the Lopéz Bassols family; Joelle Gartner; Tom Hartley; Gerard Kelly; Brid Keenan and Paedar Wheelan; Locky Morris and Stephen Gargan; Jo and Aleen Mulhern; Rita O'Hare; John and Danae Kindness; Sylvia Stevens; Elizabeth Macgregor and Peter Jenkinson; and Mariana Yampolsky and Arjen van der Sluis, for opening their homes to us all and for spending their time helping us understand more about each other's respective cultures.

For loaning works of art from their own collections for the duration of the touring of this exhibition, I would like to thank the following collectors: Susan Hill in Venice, California; Sra. Sandra Azcárraga, and Pedro Torres in Mexico City. We are also grateful to Patricia Ortiz Monasterio and Ms. Edith Fay of the Galería OMR for their energies in making the Mexican loans possible, and to the Arts Council of N. Ireland for loaning Ballad no. 1 by Philip Napier. We would also like to thank Graham Cope and Bright Tech Developments Ltd., Dorset, England, for donating an electronic display system to artist Philip Napier.

I would like to acknowledge the work of the curators and staff involved in bringing "Distant Relations" to the various venues: Noriko Gamblin, Michael Phillips, Scott Boberg, and Alissa Levin at the Santa Monica Museum of Art; Brenda McParland at the Irish Museum of Modern Art; Isabelle King and Gordon Agar at the Camden Arts Centre; Claire Doherty and Helen Juffs at the Ikon Gallery; Edouardo Ganado Kim, Alejandro Beltrán, Patricia Felguérez, Jorge Reynoso, Juan Cortés, Esther Fernández, Mario Bocanegra, and Antonio Hernández at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Carrillo Gil.

My special thanks to Michele Perez for designing this book. Thanks to Tony Scully, Mary Ferguson, Brendan Leech, Garrett O'Connor, and Fionnula Flanagan for their assistance editing and proofreading; Ellen Calmus and Juan Arturo Brennan for working on the translations; Joe Nuñez from Typecraft for his advice and patience during the production of this book; Tom Patchett for committing to publishing this catalogue/anthology without any hesitation; and to Jody Zellen and Antonette DeVito for their support at Smart Art Press.

I would like to thank to Elías Díaz Miceli for the Graphic Design and programming of this Site in the Internet.

I would also like to thank Mike Abrahams; Annette Ballester; Jocelyn Benzakin; Enrique Berruga; CURARE (Espacio Crítico para Las Artes); Ambassador Erwan Fouére; Richard McAughley; Michael McMullen; Charles Melcher; Patricia Mendoza; Siobhan O'Hanlon; Noreen O'Hare; Victor Flores Olea; Jonathan Reff; Laurie Sparham; and Sue Steward for contributing their time and support.

Finally, I would like to thank my partner Pedro Meyer for his understanding and constant belief in this project. To our son, Julito, who learnt to sleep through the night as soon as he was able, allowing me to complete this publication on time. This project is about the meeting of two distinct cultures, and so I dedicate my work on "Distant Relations" to Julio Ernesto Patrick and Pedro, my closest relations.

Trisha Ziff

Los Angeles, July 1995