Visual Arts

Looking at Institutions Look at Themselves: NUS Museum & NTU CCA Singapore

By Marcus Yee (1530 words, 20-minute read) “What am I?” asks the museum. “If I am not to be metamuseum, interred within my own history, what do I do?”. —Lisa G. Corrin   Amidst the torrential stream of infrastructural expansion and bureaucratic densification that characterises the “arts ecosystem” in Singapore, several art institutions appear to

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15 – 21 May 2017: Indonesia

Top Picks in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Makassar from 15-21 May 2017   JAKARTA   BBUZZSHOW@JAKARTA, Now – 30 May 2017, Galeria Fatahillah, Jakarta BBuzzShow is one of BBuzzArt’s global traveling exhibitions that provide exhibition opportunities for emerging artists. BBuzzArt is a social platform that aims to support emerging artists by connecting artists and art lovers

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What does it mean to represent the ‘Filipino’ in the 2017 Venice Art Biennale? [Philippines]

“The idea of a “national identity” isn’t flat, as some people might have you think. It is a vast, complex landscape, with boundaries leaking from one to the other. Perceived differences form a major part of what one’s national identity is supposed to be, but it is an idea sifted through many filters, such as

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Artists in Southeast Asia: Zoncy, Anon Pairot and more share what inspires their recent artworks [SEA]

“The references that artists use to inform their work are widely varied: these can be a song, a film, a novel, a fashion image, a building in their neighbourhood, a childhood memory and sometimes a combination of two or more of them. The possibilities and permutations are endless. Five Southeast Asian artists, Robert Zhao Renhui

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8 – 14 May 2017: Singapore

Surviving the Japanese Occupation: War and its Legacies, Former Ford Factory, open all week To mark – not commemorate – the 75th anniversary of the fall of Singapore, there’ll be an exhibition set in the Old Ford Factory, which was where the British surrendered to the Japanese forces on February 15, 1942. Spread across four

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Review: Oh Soon-Hwa’s “Coastal Regions (Delta)” at The Private Museum [Singapore]

“From its headwaters in the Tibetan plateau, the Mekong River flows past six countries for over 4,000 kilometers to the South China Sea—but its journey is unquiet. Since the 1990s, the river has been punctuated by a string of Chinese hydropower dams, with dozens more in the works. Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam are also

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Following the Threads that Connect Clothing to Religious Persecution in Southeast Asia [Thailand]

“The violence meted out against people for their religious, political, and ethnic affiliations, often signaled by clothing and the symbols they wear, provides a lens through which to see abuses of power. All over the world, clothing and symbols can take on protective, threatening, or dangerous meanings. As happens in the West, discrimination against Muslims also occurs in Thailand and

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Prayer, Puppetry, and Politics: The World of Malay Performance Art [SEA]

“Kathy Foley, curator of Malay Theatre: Intangible Cultural Heritage and Islam, boasts decades of experience studying the art and theater of Indonesia and Southeast Asia. A trained performer in the art of wayang, traditional Indonesian mask and puppetry, Foley holds the distinction of being one of the first non-Indonesians to be invited to the prestigious

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1 – 7 May 2017: Singapore

CHAOS MEMO YELLOWING, directed by Chan Tze-Woon, 4 MAY, 7:30pm, National Museum of Singapore In 2014, an umbrella movement took place in Hong Kong, where young people led the ups and downs of the movement, the occupation of streets by civilians, and the fight against democracy in the way of civil disobedience. “Where there is a

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1 – 7 May 2017: Indonesia

Top Picks in Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta from 1 – 7 May 2017   JAKARTA   Unit Produksi Berita, Now – 17 May 2017, Dia.lo.gue artspace, Jakarta In this exhibition, Nindito Adipurnomo aims to return to the subjective old way of appreciating arts. The process involved 10 friends of Dia.lo.gue with various professional backgrounds. Nindito

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24 – 30 April 2017: Indonesia

Top Picks in Jakarta, Bali and Yogyakarta from 24 – 30 April 2017   JAKARTA   About A Woman, 25 April 2017, 7 PM, Goethehaus, Jakarta Goethe Institut Jakarta’s Art House Cinema screens Teddy Soeriaatmadja’s film titled About A Woman. The film is a story of two strangers that are made to live under one

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Calling All Curators: “Mode of Liaison” at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre [Thailand]

“The Japan Foundation Asia Center presents “Mode Of Liaisons” exhibition featuring paintings, sculptures, films/videos, installations and performances by nearly 20 artists at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre until July 2. Curated by Pichaya Suphavanij, the exhibition is part of “Condition Report”, a collaborative art project with curators from Japan and Southeast Asian countries with the

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A region in flux: “People, Money, Ghosts (Movement As Metaphor)” [Thailand]

“What do four contemporary artists from three other Southeast Asian countries have that could resonate in a country like Thailand? Turns out, a whole lot. From aesthetics, to spiritual beliefs, to societal struggles, Jim Thompson Art Center’s latest group exhibition, “People, Money, Ghosts (Movement As Metaphor)”, depicts the continual change that the region is going through,

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17 – 23 April 2017: Singapore

School of Contemporary Music Festival 2017, 7 – 30 Apr, various timings and venues Held as part of The LASALLE Show 2017 at the end of the academic year, this graduation showcase presents the college’s music students performing at the culmination of their years of training. More information. Every Brilliant Thing by Bhumi Collective, 18 –

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17 – 23 April 2017: Indonesia

Top Picks in Jakarta, Bali and Yogyakarta from 17 – 23 April 2017   JAKARTA   Pesona Sastra Jawa, 18 April 2017, 3:30 PM, Bentara Budaya Jakarta Javanese Modern literature is losing popularity and readership. Many Javanese authors had switched to write in Bahasa Indonesia to widen its readers, making Javanese literature even more rare.

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An Artist’s Comprehensive History of Southeast Asian Photography [SEA, Singapore]

“I was first introduced to writer and photographer Zhuang Wubin’s work when I moved to Cambodia. His writings on Cambodian photography are well-researched, accessible, and thoughtful — exactly what I was seeking as a newcomer to the area. Zhuang became an important node for me to learn from and think through photography in Cambodia, and later the region as a whole.

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10 – 16 April 2017: Singapore

When Space Dissolves into Luminosity; Where Flowers Bloom Amidst Rocks, iPreciation Gallery, 15 April – 29 April 2017 iPreciation presents an exhibition comprising works by 10 Singaporean artists, which spans different mediums ranging from sculptures, paintings, prints and mixed media, and seeks to examine how artists approach questions of authenticity while navigating the ever complex world. Artists

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10 – 16 April 2017: Indonesia

Top Picks in Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, and Malang from 10 – 16 April 2017   JAKARTA    Duet of Amplified Sewing Machine, 9 April 2017, 7 – 9 PM, Gudang Sarinah Ekosistem, Hall A2, Jakarta Can a Singer sewing machine sing? Artist Steffi Muller and Lisa Simpson will say, “Yes!” A closing event of the

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Political Acts review: Artists weave defiance into performance art [SEA]

Review of POLITICAL ACTS: PIONEERS OF PERFORMANCE ART IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, Arts Centre Melbourne Steven Tonkin has curated a useful survey of Southeast Asian performance art as part of the inaugural Asia Triennial of Performing Arts. The photographs and videos of seven artists contain glimpses of their social environments, reminding us that performance art comes

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Contemporary art taking off in Philippines as galleries host more visitors and collectors take a global view

At the opening of Art Fair Philippines in Manila last month, a young sound artist named Jon Romero was using an overseas visitor to conduct electricity between metal sheets. Each time Romero tapped on the visitor’s arm, the electrical charge created a sound. Romero began playing the visitor like an instrument. “It’s the electricity flowing

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Zai Kuning on the Singapore Pavilion project at Venice Biennale 2017 (via Art Radar Journal)

“What I present is not about Singapore history, but rather it is the history and living cultures across Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand up to Vietnam. This is the Malay world that the world knows very little about. Even the Malays in Singapore do not know it well. Singapore is one part of the Malay

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