Southeast Asia

Same same but different: ASEAN 50 at the Singapore Writers Festival 2017

By Akanksha Raja (840 words, 8-minute read) “Language is born from imagination, and imagination is what makes language real. Without language, we have no memory: therefore, literacy (the mastery of language) is important. Our sense of language is the most intimate access to what is real, and our literature is our people’s memory; through language, […]

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Photography in Southeast Asia: A Survey

Book Review: “Photography in Southeast Asia: A Survey” by Zhuang Wubin

Photography arrived in Southeast Asia soon after its discovery in Europe in 1839, provoking contrasting reactions and developing in different ways according to the environment where it was introduced, yet having indeed an important impact in the modernisation of the region. Photography in South East Asia: a Survey offers us the opportunity to venture on

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Tikam-Tikam Japan: Table and Chairs

Recently I caught a round of theatrical experimentations by Southeast Asian and Japanese directors in Tokyo. Called One Table Two Chairs Meeting 2017, it was the second of a 3-year series at the Za-Koenji Theatre. Taking part were Prumsodun Ok (Cambodia), Kamei Juntaro (Japan), Fasyali Fadzly (Malaysia), Chey Chankethya (Cambodia) and Liu Xiaoyi (Singapore). One

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Elaine Chiew interviews Singapore-based Filipino writer Victor Fernando Ocampo [Philippines, Singapore]

“For every writer, once in a rare while, a book comes along and really shakes you up, where (instead of that height/ceiling metaphor) I’d like to say instead, the floor drops on which you thought the legs of fiction stood. Victor Fernando Ocampo’s The Infinite Library and Other Stories did that for me. The ideas that power

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Satirical Art

Satirical Art Will Not Be Silenced [SEA]

“They have been harassed, threatened, publicly scorned and surrounded by large, aggressive mobs. They have been held behind bars, and faced the wrath of furious governments. Yet, they appear not to have lost their moral compass, their passion, or their hearts. Their “crime”? Art. Despite government pressure, Malaysia’s Zunar and South Korea’s Hong Sung-dam continue

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ArtAsiaPacific: After Darkness, Southeast Asian Art in the Wake of History [SEA, USA]

“A lasting impression one got from the exhibition “After Darkness: Southeast Asian Art in the Wake of History” at the Asia Society Museum in New York was the sense of art’s power to propel. Walking a tight rope between personal aesthetics and the repressive sociopolitical conditions of their countries, seven artists and a collaborative group—from

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Regional Departures: An Interview with David Teh on “Misfits: Pages from a Loose-Leaf Modernity”

Between 21 April to 3 July this year, Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin hosted Misfits: Pages from a Loose-Leaf Modernity, curated by David Teh. The exhibition featured three artists from Southeast Asia: Fillipino filmmaker Rox Lee, who sowed the seeds of a nascent experimental scene; Thai artist and poet Tang Chang, known

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Art That Moves: Lim How Ngean

Art that Moves is an occasional series where we ask artists and other creative workers to reflect on artworks, performances or events that were personally important to them. Lim How Ngean (PhD) is a performance-maker, dramaturg and dance researcher. In recent years he has dramaturged dances for choreographers such as Daniel Kok, Joavien Ng, Kuik Swee

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Call for Applications

                                     Deadline extended to 20th June 2017.  If you have any questions                                        or need more information, email us: Contact(at)artsequator.com Tags: Criticism  Performance

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Ten Women Behind Photography in Asia

“When we talk about photography, oftentimes we talk about those in the frontlines, the photographers and artists, and forget the facilitators behind the scenes who are just as committed in their efforts and contributions. Here are some of our favourite advocates, all ten of whom are women…” See the entire list at Invisible Photographer Asia. Tags:

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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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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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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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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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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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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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10 great modern Southeast Asian films

A rough guide to contemporary cinema from Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and other parts of Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia is an expansive region that produces diverse cinema, much of which now reaches the international festival circuit. Yet only a relatively limited number of titles receive overseas commercial release, usually based on the director’s prestige or

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Sydney Festival 2017: Dancing new lives Keith Gallasch: EkosDance Company: Cry Jailolo; Balabala

“Eko Supriyanto’s internationally travelled Cry Jailolo featured in the Darwin Festival and Adelaide’s OzAsia in 2016, in this year’s Sydney Festival and will appear shortly in Brisbane’s new Supercell Dance Festival and Melbourne’s Asia TOPA, a three-month celebration of Asian and South-East Asian performing arts. Also in the Sydney Festival was the premiere of Balabala,

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Tash Aw & Tahmima Anam Discuss Home, Identity and the Changing Face of Asia

I think if anyone is truly honest about any meaningful relationship, they will experience a certain ambiguity about it: no one can love totally without questioning that relationship from time to time, and if they did, it wouldn’t be real. It’s the same with relationships with your country: the deeper your attachment, the more you

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