Performance art emerged as a vital medium for art-making in Southeast Asia, in the 1990s and 2000s. Often socially-engaged and politically-inflected, performance art’s ephemeral and often abstract nature allowed artists ways of negotiating regimes of surveillance and control. This panel brings together two artists who played pivotal roles in Southeast Asian art history, and considers some of their iconic performance works and the socio-cultural contexts they navigated. In addition, the panel will consider how and why artists employ objects or installations with performative qualities, and how they continue to redefine body-based art in response to shifting circumstances.

Speakers:
Mella Jaarsma – Artist, Indonesia / Netherlands
Suzann Victor – Artist, Singapore / Australia

Moderated by:
Tan Siuli – Contributing Editor, ART SG and Independent Curator

How do we sit with violence? In this conversation, the influence of words and images on the unconscious will be shared, exploring how their presence in media, technology and ritual shape our bodies and minds in ways that only art can perhaps begin to unravel.

Speaker:
Mandy El-Sayegh  – Artist, UK / Malaysia

Moderated by:
Zoe Butt – Curator, Writer and Founder of in-tangible institute, Chiang Mai

In a time of escalating economic, environmental, and political precarity, how can/should leaders of arts organisations respond? We will hear from 3 directors of institutions with varying histories, programs, and contexts. Each director works across operational modes: regional to global; working with artists, patrons, biennales, and governments on collection-building, public dissemination, writing, education, exhibitions, and more. Together, we will prospect the possibilities and stalemates that institutional directors negotiate.

Speakers:
Renan Laru-an – Artistic Director – SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin
Miwako Tezuka – Art Director, Dib Bangkok
Xiaoyu Weng – Artistic Director, Tanoto Art Foundation

Moderated by:
Wong Binghao (Bing) — Curator, Editor, Writer

This panel brings together artist Korakrit Arunanondchai and curator Amal Khalaf. We will take Ghost, a series of video and performance exhibitions in Bangkok, as a case study to discuss how local and regional contexts align or diverge from international networks. Co-founded by Arunanondchai, Ghost will launch its third and final edition in late 2025, curated by Khalaf. We will also discuss Arunanondchai and Khalaf’s involvement in artistic practice alongside their curatorial work.

Speakers:
Korakrit Arunanondchai – Artist, Thailand
Amal Khalaf  – Co-Curator Sharjah Biennale 16, Director of Programmes Cubitt Gallery, London
Amal Khalaf’s participation is kindly supported by the National Arts Council.

Moderated by:
Wong Binghao (Bing) — Curator, Editor, Writer

What is the evolving role of collectors in developing the arts eco-system in Asia? Drawing on Delfina Foundation’s renowned Collecting as Practice programme, this panel explores the politics, philosophy and psychology of collecting through the ‘origin stories’ of collectors Daisuke Miyatsu (Japan), Quynh Nguyen (Vietnam) and Tony Lyu (South Korea). Each of their personal journeys reveal a common purpose and aspiration to transform their private passion for the arts into public impact. 

Speakers:
Tony Lyu  – Angel Investor, South Korea
Daisuke Miyatsu  – Collector, Professor at Yokohama University of Art and Design, Board Member, Mori Art Museum
Quynh Nguyen – Founder of Nguyen Art Foundation, Vietnam

Moderated by:
Aaron Cezar – Founding Director, Delfina Foundation, London

In conjunction with Singapore Biennale 2025

The panel examines diverse perspectives on the city of Singapore, moving beyond its aspirational narrative. It brings together practitioners from academia, film programming, and curatorial practice to explore how Singapore as a site of cultural production has been conceptualised and manifested, and to discuss approaches to recontextualise lived experience in the city through decentralising, rewinding, and unearthing.

Speakers:
Dr Hsu Fang-Tze – Curator, Singapore Art Museum
Dr Imran bin Tajudeen – Senior Lecturer, Department of Malay Studies and Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore
Natalie Khoo – Programmes & Outreach Executive, Asian Film Archive
Teow Yue Han – Co-founder, Hothouse

Moderated by:
Mok Cui Yin – Head, Biennale, Singapore Art Museum

Natural forms and organisms are increasingly transformed and reimagined through technology. These purely digital creations rarely remain confined to the screen, instead extending outward to form social and emotional connections with viewers. Through them, artists are uncovering new possibilities for understanding the self and our relationship to the environment.

This panel brings together two artists and two curators exploring the aesthetics and imagination of artificial life and forms. Through interactive chatbots, biomorphic sculptures, and curatorial perspectives grounded in image history, the discussion examines how these innovative practices are reshaping our perspectives. 

Speakers:
Shavonne Wong – Artist, Singapore / Thailand
00 Zhang  – Artist
Isaiah Cheng  – Programmes Manager, DECK

Moderated by:
Clara Che Wei Peh – Curator and Arts Writer