Atousa Bandeh Ghiasabadi is an artist  and videomaker originally from Shiraz, Iran. After her arrival in Holland she began to feel increasingly constricted by the expectations of her new surroundings, expectations that can best be described as orientalist. In 2006 this led her to create the Sideways project, which received funding from the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture. In Sideways Ghiasabadi and five other artists working in various disciplines and from various backgrounds investigated the role of context in the production and reception of art.

Now we have Sideways the book, a compendium of professional information that calls for a hefty dose of concentration if one is to gain the maximum benefit from it.

Each contribution is treated differently, but in each case the treatment is sensitive and attentive. One pictorial essay goes for large formats, another
prefers small illustrations to the text. Two longer essays are printed in serifed type on tinted paper. A second layer of text appears in an extra section stitched in as part of the front flap by some extraordinary work with a sewing machine.

The overall atmosphere is one of parliamentary papers and other
government printing from the days when the government was the Government. That sounds dull, but it is a compliment. The cover too has this air of proselytizing lucidity.