The Age of Earthquakes, co-authored with the novelist Douglas Coupland and curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, was published in 2015 by Penguin Books in the UK, Blue Rider Press in the US and Eichborn in Germany.
It accompanied a touring exhibition and featured text contributions from writers Douglas Coupland, Rana Dasgupta, Hu Fang, Julien Gracq, Jonathan Lethem, Tom McCarthy, Guy Mannes Abbott, Sophia Al Maria, Hisham Matar, Adania Shibli and Neal Stephenson.
Containing 30 essays and articles on an array of Middle Eastern cities such as Damascus, Tehran, Cairo, Istanbul and Mecca, Kaelen Wilson-Goldie wrote that, "the editors set themselves the task not of celebrating or bashing Dubai but rather of offering a third way between neoliberal and neoleft readings of the place.
Dominic Eichler, in Frieze magazine, described it as, "an atlas of sorts, but one that maps an extended academic circle and its response to a built world being radically reshaped by conflict and globalization.
After Talbot's departure, the collective grew to include Patrick Lacey, Dagmar Radmacher, Benjamin Reichen, Kajsa Stahl and Maki Suzuki.
It expanded the disciplinary remit to include novelists, historians, filmmakers and journalists; as well as introducing the Globe Books imprint; long-term research projects and curated art and media exhibitions.
"[7] The theme of language has been an ongoing concern for Basar, who has said, "Contemporary reality is often ahead of our ability to describe it, because we are still left behind in the terminology of the previous era or moment.
In 2012, Tod Wodicka wrote in The National newspaper, "That GAF took place on an island felt somehow important, and illustrated the oft repeated—and manifestly true—claim that it acted as Art Dubai's brain.
He was chiefly superseded by those outside the art-industry consciousness: the political scientist, the translator, the novelist, the archaeologist, and so on—those who have as much or even more impact on the world and its artists than do the pedestaled curator and critic.
"[18] In a preview for the 2016 edition, Rachel Spence in the Financial Times said "The forum has come to be recognised as a hub of ideas that has helped to fuel the development of the contemporary art scene in the Gulf.
His guests have included Ken Adam,[20] Peter Saville, Momus, Claude Parent, Archigram, Keller Easterling, Rem Koolhaas, Alice Rawsthorn, Julia Peyton-Jones, Beatriz Colomina, Nicolai Ouroussoff, Jan de Cock and Hella Jongerius.
"[21] Each issue takes a cultural or historical format (such as Magic, Philosophy, Lecture, Library, Anniversary, Chat Show, Spam, Cover Version, Protest, Reality, Essay, Trailer, Hobsbawm, Kurt Cobain, Career, Couple) and invites guests (such as The Otolith Group, Cécile B. Evans, Jonathan Allen, Sam Jacob, Brian Dillon, Peter Webber, Oscar Guardiola-Rivera, Tamara Barnett-Herrin) to provide personal insights on how knowledge has been "formatted.