Italian to English Art/Literary General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters Contemporary artist collection

This is the concluding sentence of this very long review on this contemporary artist's collection/exhibition. The last paragraph contrasts her images of dancers in flight to the weight and anxiety that comes through her painting style generally.

"Che cosa deve raccontare una mostra, se non il volo di una ricerca che insegue se stessa, prima ancora che le vicende del mondo?

Existence is elemental in her work so I am unsure if "prima ancora che" text is talking in terms of time or importance. Something like:

"primordial to the events of the world?" or something???