The global art ecosystem, to which South East Asia is an increasing feature and activator, unevenly distributes access and opportunity. It fixates on the transnational consumption, exotification, and display of artworks over and above the support of its struggling contexts of artistic production (e.g. artists political rights, education, cultural visibility, habitats, and collaborators). In this discussion, speakers offer windows into their work and why we must better argue the need to support our creative ecologies via nurturing the social worlds of artists.

Speakers

Alessio Antoniolli – Director of Gasworks and Triangle Network, London

Vibha Galhotra – Artist, Delhi

Chantal Wong – Convenor for AFIELD, Hong Kong

Moderated by:

Zoe Butt – Director/Founder, in-tangible institute, Chiang Mai

This panel explores the intricacies of expanding the contemporary Thai art eco-system beyond Bangkok. Speakers discuss how soft power, collaboration and partnerships play vital roles within this narrative. The discussion will also explore Prof Dr. Apinan Poshyananda’s film, The Spirits of Maritime Crossing, featuring Marina Abramović and Pichet Klunchun, which premiered at the St Moritz Art Film Festival 2023, directed by Stefano Rabolli-Pansera.

Speakers

Prof Dr. Apinan Poshyananda – Chief Executive and Artistic Director, Bangkok Art Biennale

Stefano Rabolli-Pansera – Director, Bangkok Kunsthalle

Moderated by:

Tan Siuli – Independent Curator

Through and beyond collecting, what drives art patronage today? How is philanthropy evolving with each new generation? What innovative models are emerging – or already exist? This panel explores the role of collectors and patrons in developing the arts ecosystem in Asia and questions how a larger culture of philanthropy can be nurtured.

Speakers

Justine Alexandria Tek – Director and CEO, Yuz Museum, Shanghai; Director, Yuz Foundation, Hong Kong

Alan Lau – Collector, Vice Chairman of M+ Hong Kong, Co-Chair Tate Modern Asia Pacific Acquisition Committee, Guggenheim Museum Asia Art Circle

Vir Kotak – Collector and Founder, The Eight Foundation, Tate Modern South Asia Acquisition Committee, Singapore

Moderated by:

Aaron Cezar – Founding Director, Delfina Foundation, London

The exhibition Translations: Afro-Asian Poetics, currently on view at 6 venues across Gillman Barracks examines varied and complex histories, stories, and speculations in diverse media drawn from African and Asian diasporic cultural experiences. This discussion between exhibition curator Dr Zoé Whitley and artists Pio Abad, Mischeck Masamvu, and Tuan Andrew Nguyen, moderated by art historian and curator Dr Karin Oen, examines the themes of translation and transcription; historicity and memory; exactitude and imprecision in a few of the works featured in the show.

Speakers

Pio Abad – Artist, Manila

Misheck Masamvu – Artist, Zimbabwe

Tuan Andrew Nguyen – Artist, Ho Chi Minh City

Dr Zoé Whitley – Director of Chisenhale Gallery, London

Moderated by:

Dr Karin Oen-Lee – Senior Lecturer and Head of Department, Art History at Nanyang Technological University Singapore

Building a collection is a personal quest, often one in Southeast Asia that can be of particular struggle to find validating information (eg. critical writing, reviews, opinions) that argues the worth and meaning of an artistic practice. What strategies and struggles do curators, dealers, institutional directors and collectors have in ensuring their artistic communities are supported locally with global engagement and relevance?

Speakers

X Zhu-Nowell – Artistic Director, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai

Le Thuan Uyen – Artistic Director of The Outpost Art Organisation, Hanoi

Dr Roger Nelson – Co-founder, Co-editor of Southeast of Now: Directions in Contemporary and Modern Art in Asia

Moderated by:

Zoe Butt – Director/Founder, in-tangible institute, Chiang Mai

This panel brings together artists, a curator, and tech-focused venture capitalist to consider the future of our art history, as it is shaping, and shaped by, artificial intelligence. Diving into the varied considerations around the unfolding relationships between art and rapidly advancing machine learning tools, our speakers will offer diverse perspectives on how this rapidly shifting landscape will evolve.

Speakers

Kathleen Ditzig – Curator, National Gallery Singapore

Jake Elwes – Artist, London

Ho Rui An – Artist, Singapore

Deeps de Silva – Founder, Samadhi Ventures, Singapore

Moderated by:

Clara Che Wei Peh – Independent Curator, Singapore

This panel brings together practitioners with expansive and alternative approaches to conceiving, producing, commissioning and collecting video art and artists films. Artists Su Hui-Yu (Taiwan) and Yeo Siew Hua (Singapore) will speak about their respective practices, which are inter-disciplinary and deeply collaborative. Aside from exhibiting in museums and gallery settings, they also present their work in film festivals, performance festivals and theatrical productions.

Barcelona-based writer Han Nefkens is the founder of the non-profit Han Nefkens Foundation, which funds and supports video art commissions in collaboration with international art institutions. The unique way in which the foundation operates allows for artists not only to produce new work but also to have that work shown at numerous art institutions world-wide.

Speakers

Su Hui-Yu – Artist, Taipei

Han Nefkens – Collector and Founder of Han Nefkens Foundation, Barcelona

Yeo Siew Hua – Artist, Singapore

Moderated by:

Sam I-shan – ART SG FILM Curator, Singapore