Sustaining Vision: Prioritising Artistic Production

In artistic production and presentation, audiences encounter an artist’s vision only after it has been translated into physical reality. Yet long before a work takes form, it depends upon those with the foresight to recognize its potential and the commitment to help bring it into being.

Join a panel of speakers whose work is dedicated to enabling artistic visions—particularly in complex and resource-intensive mediums such as film and time-based media, performance, and installation. The panel features Han Nefkens, founder of the eponymous foundation supporting grants and commissions for video art, with a special focus on Southeast and South Asia; Gridthiya Gaweewong, Artistic Director of the Jim Thompson Art Foundation and Co-Artistic Director of the Thailand Biennale 2023; and Tay Tong, Director, Visual Arts at Singapore’s National Arts Council, which has commissioned numerous projects across Singapore Art Week. Moderated by Zoe Butt, Artistic Director, deCentral and Founder, in-tangible institute.

Speakers:
Han Nefkens – Founder, Han Nefkens Foundation
Gridthiya Gaweewong – Artistic Director, Jim Thompson Art Centre
Tay Tong – Director (Arts Ecosystem Group) Visual Arts, NAC

Moderated by:
Zoe Butt – Artistic Director, deCentral and Founder, in-tangible institute

Han Nefkens | Founder, Han Nefkens Foundation

A writer, art collector, and art patron based in Barcelona. What started in 2001 with the purchase of a video installation by Pipilotti Rist has grown into a collection of contemporary art consisting of photographs, videos, installations and paintings that is lent as “promised gifts” to several museums in the Netherlands.

In 2006, Nefkens established the Han Nefkens Foundation that supports emerging and mid-career video artists by financing production and providing them with an international platform through its collaboration with more than thirty art institutions worldwide including the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, the Singapore Art Museum, M+ in Hong Kong, MUAC in Mexico City, the Bass in Miami, MACBA, the Tàpies Foundation and the Miro Foundation in Barcelona.

While doing this the Foundation strives for a personal and long-term relationship with the people and institutions it works with.

Gridthiya Gaweewong | Artistic Director, Jim Thompson Art Centre

The artistic director of the Jim Thompson Art Center, and co-founded Project 304, a Bangkok based alternative art space in 1996. She was recently appointed the Artistic Director of the Thailand Biennale 2023, which will take place in the northern city of Chiang Rai.

Gaweewong has co-curated prominent artistic projects with regional curators on several occasions, including Under Construction, Tokyo Opera City Gallery and Japan Foundation; Forum Japan (2003); ‘Politics of Fun’, an exhibition of artists from Southeast Asia, with Ong Keng Sen at Haus Der Kulteren der Welt, Berlin (2005), with Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Bangkok Experimental Film Festival, Bangkok (1996-2005), with David Teh on Unreal Asia, Oberhausen International Short Film Festival (2010).

She served as a curatorial team member of the 12th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, South Korea (2018). Gaweewong lives and works in Chiangmai and Bangkok.

Tay Tong | Director (Arts Ecosystem Group) Visual Arts, NAC

Tay Tong leads visual arts development at the National Arts Council, working to grow the Singapore’s arts scene into a dynamic hub for creativity and cultural exchange. He shapes policies and partnerships that support artists and arts organisations, helps build a sustainable arts sector, and works to put Singapore on the international arts map while making art more accessible in everyday life.

In this role, he champions Singapore’s prominent visual arts platforms including Singapore Art Week, the Singapore Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia, and the Singapore Biennale, while working with major cultural institutions, visual arts organisations and the sector to strengthen Singapore’s position as a thought leader in Southeast Asian contemporary arts.

Previously, Tay Tong was Managing Director of TheatreWorks (Singapore) and Aide to the Festival Director for Singapore International Festival of Arts (2014-2017). He served as Director of Arts Network Asia from 1999 to 2017, fostering intra-Asia cultural dialogues and exchanges. His regional work includes capacity building programmes such as The Continuum Asia Project in Luang Prabang and collaborations with the Asia-Europe Foundation and Japan Foundation Asia Centre.

Zoe Butt | Artistic Director, deCentral and Founder, in-tangible institute

A curator, writer and educator. In 2025, she was appointed Artistic Director of ‘deCentral’, a forthcoming social enterprise for the arts, opening in Thailand in 2027. Zoe is the founder of ‘in-tangible institute’, a curatorial platform in Chiang Mai (established 2022), nurturing locally-responsive infrastructure for the arts across Southeast Asia. Possessing an extensive exhibition, publishing and public-speaking history globally, previously leading artist-driven initiatives for over 15 years in China and Vietnam; Zoe holds a PhD by Published Works, University of Westminster, London and is currently Lead Advisor, Kadist Art Foundation.