This research is an inquiry into curatorial, artistic, and academic networks of exchange that foster a pluriversal understanding of Southeast Asia. It will highlight the potential of open-ended curatorial, artistic and textual endeavours that formulate their own modus operandi. Analysing motivations, methods, and audiences of three distinct art initiatives by local practitioners will provide valuable insights for the writing of future cultural policies and alternative metrics to evaluate the impact of nonconforming approaches within regional studies. This will reshape and expand policies and programmes that seek to internationalise or regionalise Singapore art scenes. Acknowledging the long-term impact of such critical thinking and the creation of alternative knowledges and transnational networks would advance traditional perspectives in Southeast Asian scholarship and its funding mechanisms.
Research Outputs
Understanding Southeast Asia as a “Geocultural Formation”: Three Case Studies of Artistic Initiatives from the Region Closed-Door Forum
Programme
Welcome by Ahmad Mashadi, Introduction by Ute Meta Bauer and David Teh
ROUND-ROBIN: INTRODUCING THE CASE STUDIES, response by John Tain
The Flying Circus Project, Introduction by SEON, Presentation by Ong Keng Sen
Southeast of Now: Directions in Contemporary Art and Modern Art in Asia, Introduction by Ho Tzu Nyen, Presentation by Thanavi Chotrapdit, Vera Mey and Roger Nelson
The Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia, Introduction by Ong Keng Sen, Presentation by Ho Tzu Nyen
CONVERSATION: PATRICK FLORES & HSU FANG-TZE, moderated by Siddhartha Perez
CONVERSATION: GRIDTHIYA GAWEEWONG & MELATI SURYODARMO, moderated by Ute Meta Bauer
PANEL: HEIDI ARBUCKLE & KATHLEEN DITZIG, moderated by David Teh
Granted by
Alec Steadman is a curator and researcher. He is currently Co-Chief Curator at Cemeti — Institute for Art and Society, Yogyakarta. Previously he occupied various roles including: Curator, Arts Catalyst, London, United Kingdom (2015—2016); Exhibition Studies Research Fellow, Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong (2015); Artistic Director, Contemporary Image Collective, Cairo, Egypt (2013—2014); Curator in Residence, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy (2013), and Head of Exhibitions, Zoo Art Enterprises, London, United Kingdom (2005—2010).
Ann Demeester is the Director of Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands. She was appointed Manager of Art and Urban Development for Amsterdam City Council, co-curated the 10th Baltic Triennial, Vilnius, Lithuania (2009) and was previously the Director of De Appel Arts Centre and W139, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Demeester was part of the editorial team of the literary journals, Yang, A Prior Magazine and F.R. David, and wrote catalogue texts on the work of Luc Tuymans, Michael Borremans, Jennifer Tee, Richard Hawkins, Mika Rottenberg and Bjarne Melgaard, amongst others.
Bahbak Hashemi-Nezhad is a designer based in London. His studio practice spans from the domestic to the public realm, from neighbourhood plans to products and recipes. He is interested in the changing role of the designer within complex urban conditions and draws from the permissive nature of play and processes of defamiliarisation to develop methodologies that actively engage publics within design processes. He collaborated with various art institutions in London, United Kingdom including The Showroom, The Serpentine Gallery, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Hashemi-Nezhad is currently a lecturer at the Royal College of Art, London, United Kingdom.
Bastian von Lehsten is the co-founder of Novamondo Design together with Christian Schlimok. The design agency works in the fields of brand strategy, corporate design, and digital communications for several international art organizations including the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States , the Staatsoper and the Leibniz Association in Berlin, Germany. He is teaching branding and corporate design at the Design Academy Berlin, Germany. His work has received numerous rewards, including the Red Dot Award and the iF Design Award. Since 2015, Novamondo collaborates closely with NTU CCA Singapore on communication collaterals for exhibitions, research, and residencies.
Christoph Knoth is a graphic designer, teacher, web developer and researcher who focuses on digital typography and the Internet as a platform for experimenting with visual language. In 2012 he was a design researcher at the Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, Netherlands, with the project Computed Type which explores the historic and future possibilities of parametric typeface generation. Since 2011 he works together with Konrad Renner and he is currently a guest researcher at the Bauhaus University Weimar, Germany. He collaborated with various artists and art institutions and worked on the websites of Casco — Office for Art, Design and Theory Utrecht, Netherlands, Schauspiel Stuttgart, Germany, and the German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2015 amongst others.
Dinu Bodiciu is a fashion and accessories designer currently teaching Fashion Design in Singapore at LASALLE College of the Arts. His designs are conceptualised as extensions of the human body, tackling aspects situated at the border between dress and skin. His projects include collaborations with Lady Gaga, Hunger Games ep3&4, KCPK, while his designs have been featured in various fashion and design magazines and specialist books published around the world.
Farah Wardani is currently Assistant Director of the Resource Centre at the National Gallery Singapore. She was previously Director of the Indonesian Visual Art Archive (IVAA), Yogyakarta, Indonesia, a centre for digital archive and documentation of Indonesian art, as well as a platform for research. Wardani has also been active as a teacher, writer, and curator. Her curatorial work encompasses collaborations with art spaces such as Cemeti Art House, Yogyakarta and ruangrupa, Jakarta, Indonesia. She also served as artistic director of Biennale Jogja XII Equator #2, Indonesia (2013).
John Tirman is the Executive Director and a Principal Research Scientist at MIT’s Center for International Studies. Tirman is author, or coauthor and editor, of 14 books including, most recently, Dream Chasers: Immigration and the American Backlash (2015) and The Deaths of Others: The Fate of Civilians in America’s Wars (2011). Earlier published work includes The Fallacy of Star Wars (1984), the first important critique of strategic defense, and Spoils of War: The Human Cost of America’s Arms Trade (1997). In addition, he has published more than 100 articles in periodicals such as the The Nation, Boston Globe, New York Times, Washington Post, Esquire, Wall Street Journal, and Boston Review. Past apppointments include Programme Director, Social Science Research Council, New York. He is also a trustee of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, which has offices worldwide.
Renée Staal is the chief librarian of The Library of Unread Books, a project managed in collaboration with artist Heman Chong.
Sanne Oorthuizen is a curator, editor, translator, feminist, daughter, educator and partner. She is Co-Chief Curator at Cemeti — Institute for Art and Society, Yogyakarta, Indonesia where she is currently working with Alec Steadman on Maintenance Works, a year-long project in which they envision alternative futures for Cemeti. Previously she was Curator at Casco-Office for Art, Design and Theory in Utrecht, Netherlands (2012—2016), curatorial team member for the SONSBEEK Triennial, Arnhem, Netherlands (2015—2016, with ruangrupa).
Wilfried Kuehn is the co-founder of the architectural office Kuehn Malvezzi established in 2001 together with Simona Malvezzi and Johannes Kuehn. Past projects include the architectural design for Documenta11, the Flick Collection in the Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany, the Julia Stoschek Collection in Düsseldorf, Germany, which was nominated for the international Mies van der Rohe award. The firm has designed the reconfiguration of a number of contemporary and historical art collections, and dealt with sensitive preservation issues for listed buildings such as the Belvedere Museum, Vienna, Austria. Their projects have been shown in international solo and group exhibitions, including the 10th, 13th and 14th Architecture Biennial in Venice and Manifesta 7 in Trento, Italy. Kuehn Malvezzi participated in the 1st Chicago Architecture Biennial in 2015.
Yuko Hasegawa is s Chief Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOT), Tokyo and Professor at the Tama Art University in Tokyo, Japan. Since 2008, Yuko has been a member of the Asian Art Council at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, United States. She is also currently Artistic Director of Inujima Art House Project, Okayama, Japan. Past appointments include curator of Encounters for Art Basel in Hong Kong (2012 –2014), Founding Artistic Director, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan; Curator of 11th Sharjah Biennial, United Arab Emirates (2013); co-curator of 29th São Paulo Biennial, Brazil (2010); co-curator of the 4th Shanghai Biennale, China (2002), and Artistic Director of the 7th International Istanbul Biennial, Turkey (2001).
