Akanksha Raja, Author at ArtsEquator

After a century of false dawns, the film industry is beginning to rise (via SEA Globe)

The rollercoaster ride of Indonesia’s film industry is currently cresting yet another hill in its bumpy, twisting history. Southeast Asia Globe talks with a feature moviemaker who’s taking a break from the big screen to tell stories for HBO Asia. Indonesian filmmaker Joko Anwar is making moves in a surging industry. He directed the first season of […]

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Galleries informed that art fair Art Stage Singapore cancelled (via The Straits Times)

SINGAPORE – At least five galleries slated to participate in Art Stage Singapore say the art fair has been cancelled by organisers. This would have been the ninth edition of the contemporary art fair, which was to run from Jan 25 to 27 at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre. Representatives of galleries

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Female artists, art biennial to grace National Gallery this year (via The Jakarta Post)

Indonesia’s arts scene is by no means lacking, yet most of its big names are men, with notable female artists largely unexplored. An upcoming art exhibition at the National Gallery in Central Jakarta, titled Into the Future, aims to change that. Slated to run from Feb. 26 to March 16, Into the Future will showcase

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In Ho Chi Minh City, there’s a music street called Nguyen Thien Thuat (via Tuoi Tre News)

Nguyen Thien Thuat Street in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, is best known for its wide array of music stores. But it is not just the stores that make the street popular. There is an aura of good old sound here that makes it all so alluring. The tones of string instruments echo along

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Weekly Picks: Singapore (14 – 20 January 2019)

The Little Prince In The Dark at Singapore Philatelic Museum, 19 Jan Explore unique tactile sculptures of The Little Prince In The Dark Collection by Arnaud Nazare-Aga, with visually-impaired guides from Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Dialogue in the Dark. You’ll be led through a mini-experience of the essential elements of The Little Prince with your sense of

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ArtsEquator’s Top 10 Picks at the Performing Arts Meeting 2019

Established in 1995, the Tokyo Performing Arts Market (TPAM) was created to be a platform to network Japanese artists with producers and funders. 24 years later, TPAM has expanded in scope and purpose, to include live performance, panel discussions and symposiums. In 2011 it moved to the City of Yokohama, and was renamed the Performing

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Weekly Picks: Singapore (7 – 13 January 2019)

The Past and Coming Melt by Koh Nguang How, Grey Projects, 12 – 23 January With a focus on environmentally engaged art that speaks to Koh’s early and crucial artistic position on environmental crises, ‘The Past and Coming Melt’ features archival works as well as new recreations of previously destroyed or unavailable work and material.

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Indonesia at the 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (via New Mandala)

Gaining a place at the Asia Pacific Triennial (APT) at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) has been a significant milestone in the careers of many Indonesian artists. Although they were already well known in art circles, the first exhibition in 1993 helped launch the international careers of several artists including Heri Dono,

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REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Masked dance tradition rises from near extinction in Cambodia (via Reuters)

PHNOM PENH/BANGKOK (Reuters) – Cambodia’s centuries-old tradition of masked dance was nearly wiped out by the Khmer Rouge’s “Killing Fields” regime, but a handful of artists managed to keep it alive and are now working to pass it along to a new generation. Sun Rithy’s father and grandfather were both performers of the Lakhon Khol

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ArtsEquator’s Top 10 Articles of 2018

Before we plunge headlong into 2019, here’s a quick recap of some of our most-read articles on ArtsEquator, in ascending order. 10. Nathalie Johnston: Creating a home for contemporary art in Myanmar by Victoria Milko As part of ArtsEquator’s series covering independent spaces across Southeast Asia, Victoria Milko profiles Nathalie Johnston, founder of contemporary art space Myanm/art in Yangon.

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Radical theatre of the difabled (via Inside Indonesia)

Theatre is the art of looking at ourselves (Augusto Boal, founder, Theatre of the Oppressed) The performance took place on a makeshift open-air stage using only simple props, under the roof of a traditional Javanese theatre. The pendopo, as it is known, forms part of a sub-district office in Sleman, on the outskirts of Yogyakarta. The

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Film Review: Ten Years Thailand (via New Mandala)

“Will it still be customary for movie-goers to stand for the royal anthem ten years from now?” I wonder, as the familiar ritual compels me to my feet before the start of the feature. Ten Years Thailand invites four Thai directors to imagine what their country will be like a decade from now. It follows the

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radar-thediplomat-cambodian-artifacts-french-museums

Flickr/ Jean-Pierre Dalbéra

It’s Time for French Museums to Return Cambodian Artifacts (via The Diplomat)

The debate as to whether international museums and governments should return cultural artifacts acquired during the colonial period is not a new one. However, it has now been re-energized by French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision that France will return 26 cultural artifacts to Benin. The announcement follows the release of a presidential-commissioned report by French art historian Bénédicte Savoy

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Gloomy outlook for Vietnamese cinema, literature scene: workshop (via Tuoi Tre News)

Attendees at a national workshop held in Hanoi on Wednesday to discuss the multitude of issues plaguing the Vietnamese film and literature industries were not shy about voicing disdain for the current state of literary and cinematic art in Vietnam. Nearly two decades after the Vietnamese government launched a program aimed at exposing a larger

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What to expect from the Repertory Philippines stage in 2019 (via Rappler)

MANILA, Philippines – Theater junkies of all ages will be happy to know that our local theater scene has some top-notch stage entertainment up its talented sleeve for everyone to enjoy in 2019. Repertory Philippines, one of the country’s leading theater companies, will be celebrating its 82nd season next year with a lineup of 4 incredible

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Pho Ben Doi art exhibition returns to Da Lat in December

The third edition of Da Lat’s annual Pho Ben Doi art exhibition will feature more than 125 artworks by nearly 50 young, well-known Vietnamese and international artists and experts in archeology, architecture, and music from December 8, 2018 to February 28, 2019. Pho Ben Doi, or “The City On Hill,” is an inter- and multidisciplinary

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Examining Vietnam’s Modernity Through the Lens of South Asian Independent Documentaries

The idea for Moving Reels: A Social Dialog formed in 2016 as the result of a dialogue between Dr. Shweta Kishore, a scholar, documentary filmmaker, film and media lecturer at RMIT University, and Zoe Butt, a director and curator at The Factory Contemporary Arts Center. The program is a series of workshops that includes screenings of films

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Saigoneer Bookshelf: A Touch of Magical Realism in ‘The Cemetery of Chua Village’

Vietnam transitioned to a market economy like an old train lurching to life: momentous shakes and shudders, steam bursting out busted gaskets, disheveled cargo tumbling from luggage racks, sparks shooting off wheels screeching across warped rails and a whistle ripping into the placid sky. As the government enacted new policies, tossing aside the institutions to

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Weekly Picks: Singapore (17 – 23 December 2018)

Exploring Singapore Art Spaces through Art Catalogues by National Library Singapore and National Reading Movement, 20 Dec, 7pm Join Librarians Nadia Ramli and Kong Leng Foong as they explore early art spaces in Singapore through educational and state-run art institutions as well as independent arts spaces through art catalogues held by the National Library. This

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Kevin Lee

In Saigon’s Latest Indie Workshop, a Heaven for Eco-Friendly Risograph Prints (via Saigoneer)

Nestled above inpages in Thao Dien, a new print studio is offering artists and other creatives a new way to express their ideas and visions. Kho Muc is the brainchild of a team including Long Dang and Simon Phan, who have been responsible for other creative endeavors such as Saigon Artbook. The name of the studio

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Weekly Picks: Singapore (10 – 16 December 2018)

Playfreely presents Invisible Bodies by Playfreely – a new music initiative by The Observatory, at the Projector, 12 – 14 December, 7:30pm Playfreely returns with Invisible Bodies — a miasmic surge of rhythms, trance and the unseen, an undertow of currents within fermented identities. Featuring a robust lineup across 3 nights of genre pushing, discipline-bending

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ENCATC International Study Tour in Tokyo – Key Observations (via culture360.ASEF.org)

The 2018 ENCATC (European Network on Cultural Management and Policy) International Study Tour in Tokyo was held from 7 to 9 November 2018 and offered an intensive learning programme on the topic of cultural management and cultural policy in Japan. Ritirong Jiwakanon shares his experience of participating in this study tour. The ENCATC Study Tour

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‘Son mai’ – the painstaking Vietnamese art of lacquer painting (via Tuoi Tre News)

Once chiefly employed in the decoration of wooden objects, son mai, or lacquer painting, has grown over the last century into a freestanding art form in Vietnam, to a point where it is now widely considered to be the country’s national painting technique. The traditional Vietnamese lacquer used in son mai is made by mixing the resin

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Weekly Picks: Singapore (3 – 9 December 2018)

Island Song by The Song and Dance Players (SoDa Players), Centre 42, 7 – 9 December In Island Song, five 20- to 30-something characters navigate their lives the same way they navigate the city: sometimes confidently, sometimes hopefully, and sometimes recklessly As the characters wander in and out of each other’s lives, whatever happens, the city is

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Telling A Thai Tale: A Dance Dramaturg’s Take (via The Theatre Times)

“When I collaborate, I want to collaborate with the wrong person.” Pichet Klunchun, Thai dancer, and director reveals a glint of mischief behind his earnest and gentle demeanor. “I am looking for misunderstandings, for opportunities to negotiate. When things are wrong, they are right.” [1] When I was initially brought as a dramaturg into the

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Plastic Kingdom: art exhibition questions Cambodia’s rampant waste problem (via SEA Globe)

An new art exhibition in Phnom Penh featuring works by Cambodian and foreign artists will raise questions about plastic use and recycling, through woodcarvings, illustrations and even a motorbike. On first arriving in Cambodia’s ever-expanding capital Phnom Penh, one is struck by the rubbish lying on the sides of the street; order noodle soup to

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Organizers decry last-minute cancelation of Hanoi EDM festival (via Tuoi Tre News)

An EDM (electronic dance music) festival scheduled to take place just outside Hanoi from November 23 to 25 was asked to cancel only hours before its opening, despite sold tickets and foreign and local artists and volunteers already heading to the venue. Artists and visitors on dozens of buses traveling some 40 kilometers from central

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Weekly Picks: Singapore (26 November – 2 December 2018)

Guards at the Taj by Singapore Repertory Theatre, KC Arts Centre – Home of SRT, 14 Nov – 1 Dec 2018 A wickedly dark comedy based on a myth surrounding the Taj Mahal that “nothing so beautiful shall ever be built again”. Two long-term friends, Humayun and Babur stand guard at the Taj Mahal hours before

Weekly Picks: Singapore (26 November – 2 December 2018) Read More »

Grace Baey

Grace Baey’s Portraits of Yangon’s Trans Population (via Coconuts Yangon)

Some photographers are able to capture the most delicate moments deftly. With her project Living Choices, Singapore-based shooter Grace Baey showed her ability to do just that. Baey spent one month in Yangon taking pictures of the city’s trans population for the photo series — and despite the short time frame and limited window for gaining the

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Weekly Picks: Singapore (19 – 25 November 2018)

Charlie by Bhumi Collective, Goodman Arts Centre Music Studio, 20 Nov – 7 Dec What would you say to an innocent child who has literally never seen the world? Bhumi Collective is delighted to present the Singapore premiere of Charlie by Victoria Chen, after two successful runs at the Edinburgh Student Arts Festival and the

Weekly Picks: Singapore (19 – 25 November 2018) Read More »

Contributors

Akanksha Raja