By Kathy Rowland (1400 words, 8 minute read) Balai Seni Visual Negara Malaysia (Balai) is once again accused of censoring artists’ work. The victim this time is noted visual artist Ahmad Fuad Osman, who was honoured with a mid-career solo show at Balai, At the End of the Day Even Art is Not Important (1990 […]
Arts censorship: At the end of the day, this is not new Read More »
In post-colonial Southeast Asia, the constraint of politically-engaged artworks is not uncommon. One can see the spatial and temporal struggles through telling cases from the region: last July, Seven Decades was a retrospective of political prisoners’ narratives in and out of Myanmar that was aptly shown at the Pyinsa Rasa Art Space in the Secretariat
Mirrored Interrogations Read More »
Seelan Palay, a local artist, has been charged by the Attorney-General’s Chambers for participating in a public procession from Hong Lim Park to the National Gallery, and to the Parliament House on 1 October 2017. It is written in the charge sheet that the public procession is to publicise the cause of “the illegal detention
Hanoi: Mai Khoi Do Nguyen has long been described as Vietnam’s Lady Gaga. In more recent years, as her political activism has come to the fore, her expressions of rude dissent, she has also been compared to Russia’s infamous protest band, Pussy Riot. Both comparisons hold true, and yet neither do. Mai Khoi is both a serious
Vietnam’s answer to Pussy Riot furiously dissents (via The Sydney Morning Herald) Read More »
A Malaysian artist and prominent opposition activist was jailed for a month on Tuesday for publishing a caricature of Prime Minister Najib Razak looking like a clown, a ruling likely to exacerbate concern about free speech. Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy recently announced plans to amend a law to stamp out fake news, the latest step
Malaysian court jails, fines artist for clown caricature of PM (via Reuters) Read More »
“The party is not the….”, a visitor beside me squints into a portrait, trying to make out the tiny words handwritten just below it. After the words, an ‘Erica’ is signed. “The past is not the past”, I corrected him. He grins and then realises. That is the name of the exhibition, after all. ===
“The Past is not the Past”, an exhibition to remember (via The Online Citizen) Read More »
“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
Satirical Art Will Not Be Silenced [SEA] Read More »
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
Political Acts review: Artists weave defiance into performance art [SEA] Read More »
In a heated political climate, art turns radical in order to address the struggles of a society always at the cusp of a social upheaval. Art Fair Philippines 2017 highlights the work of social realists, inviting audiences to reevaluate the role of art in their daily lives. Tags: Art Fair Philippines CNN Philippines Political Art Politics
The Case for Political Art in a Post-Truth Age Read More »
At seven years old, Flora Mae lost her father Lindo Lupugan, one of the 58 individuals who were brutally killed in barangay Salman, Ampatuan town, Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009. Flora Mae, the youngest of three siblings, was her father’s favorite, her mother Arlene told Bulatlat. Now a Grade 8 student, Arlene said that after
Children of Ampatuan Massacre victims turn to art to demand justice Read More »
