b'dark sides of human desires. Her work relates to history as well as to social and political issues. Series have been dedicated to difficult themes such as children sold into slavery in North Africa (199698), abortion (19982000), and female genital mutilation (from 2009). Rego raised questions and showed the world from a womans perspective. While often drawing from folk art traditions, these artists are far from naive. Formally radical, they often mix elements from many cultures, mir-roring the multicultural world we live in today. They invent ways of telling stories that are full of meaningwhether existential, social, or politicalbut also ambiguous and often emotionally charged. The stories they tell are all the more urgent for having been so long repressed. Endnotes1Ben Lerner, The Hatred of Poetry (London : Fitzcarraldo Editions,2016), p. 85. 2Salman Rushdie, The Empire Writes Back with a Vengeance,The Times, July 3, 1982. The title, of course, is a twist on the title of the Star Wars film The Empire Strikes Back (1980).3For more information about this work, visit https://artecollectum.com/4Paula Rego, quoted in Maya Jaggi, Secret Histories, The Guardian, July 17, 2004.'