The NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore (NTU CCA Singapore) presents The Geopolitical and the Biophysical: a structured conversation on Art and Southeast Asia in context, Part II, a symposium addressing the multiple notions of “Southeast Asia” and the various issues surrounding its borders, territories, dilemmas and anxieties. SEA STATE by artist Charles Lim Yi Yong, commissioned for the Singapore Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale, explores the biophysical, political and psychic contours of Singapore and served as a point of departure for the symposium. Part I of the symposium took place in Venice, Italy during the opening days of the Biennale, and this second iteration will continue and deepen the discussions on the occasion of SEA STATE’s presentation at NTU CCA Singapore.
Southeast Asia, as a geographical region and conceptual category, is a contested entity shaped by diverse cultures and communities. The possibilities and uncertainties in this region – such as urban development, geopolitical relations, and anxieties surrounding national and regional identities – continue to pose unique social and political challenges.
The Geopolitical and the Biophysical: a structured conversation on Art and Southeast Asia in context, Part II brings together an array of eminent speakers and respondents to address questions of contemporary art and culture through interdisciplinary approaches – considering bodies of water as cultural-territorial spaces in an exploration of rivers, land reclamation, sea ports, and nomadic communities. The conversations arising from this symposium offers insight into the Southeast Asian consciousness and how it informs the region’s evolving relationship with the wider world.
The symposium is organised by NTU CCA Singapore under its Research & Education programme, which aims to connect research based artistic practices with other forms of knowledge production. As a prelude to the symposium, NTU CCA Singapore will screen films by Thai artist and filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul on 1 and 3 June 2016 to set up a “conversation” between two artist-filmmakers, Apichatpong and Charles Lim Yi Yong.
Prelude
Screening of films by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Day 1: Wednesday, 1 June 2016, 7.30 – 10.00pm | Cemetery of Splendour (2015)
Day 2: Friday, 3 June 2016, 7.30 – 10.00pm | Tropical Malady (2004)
NTU CCA Singapore, The Single Screen
Block 43 Malan Road, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 109443
Symposium programme
Day 1: National Gallery Singapore, Friday 17 June 2016, 7.00 – 9.00pm
7.30 – 7.45pm
Welcome address
Paul Tan (Singapore), Deputy CEO, National Arts Council
Professor Ute Meta Bauer (Germany/Singapore), Founding Director, NTU CCA Singapore, and Professor, School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
Day 2: NTU CCA Singapore, Saturday 18 June 2016, 9.30am – 6.00pm
10.00 – 10.10am
MORNING SESSION
Opening address by chairperson, Professor Ute Meta Bauer
11.20am – 12.30pm
Session 1: The River and its Representations
Speaker: Gridthiya Gaweewong (Thailand), Artistic Director and Curator, Jim Thompson Art Center, Bangkok
Respondent: Dr David Teh (Australia/Singapore), Assistant Professor, Department of English Language and Literature, National University of Singapore (NUS)
1.30 – 1.40pm
AFTERNOON SESSION
Opening address by chairperson, Dr David Teh
2.50 – 4.20pm
Session 3: Of Nomads and Sea Ports
Speakers: Dr Donna Brunero (Australia/Singapore), Senior Lecturer, Department of History, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, NUS; Dr Wee Beng Geok (Singapore), Consultant, Nanyang Business School, NTU; and Dr Vivienne Wee (Singapore), independent anthropologist and researcher
Respondent: Dr Imran bin Tajudeen (Singapore), Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, School of Design and Environment, NUS
4.40 – 6.00pm
Roundtable Discussion
Participants: Professor Michael M.J. Fischer, Charles Lim Yi Yong, Shabbir Hussain Mustafa, and Professor Aihwa Ong.
Moderators: Professor Ute Meta Bauer and Dr David Teh.
The programme is commissioned by the National Arts Council (NAC) and supported by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), with additional support from U.S. Embassy Singapore and National Gallery Singapore.
The three-day Public Summit brings together a prominent group of architects, theorists, researchers, curators, and community groups to share and discuss ideas about sustainability, food and energy sources, spatial practice, and social relations in the urban fabric. Programmed as a series of Structured Conversations, the Public Summit attempts to bridge artistic practices and academic research with bottom-up initiatives and explore various strategies and participatory approaches, projecting solutions and desires for future “cities for people”.
Thursday, 19 January 2017
3.00pm
Registration
Tour of exhibition Incomplete Urbanism: Attempts of Critical Spatial Practice by Khim Ong (Singapore), Deputy Director, Exhibitions, Residencies, and Public Programme, NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore (NTU CCA Singapore)
4.00 – 6.30pm
Welcome Address
Ute Meta Bauer (Germany/Singapore), Founding Director, NTU CCA Singapore, and Professor, School of Art, Design and Media (ADM), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore
Structured Conversation #1: Food, Air, Water
This session opens up the debate surrounding sustainability in relation to food sources, water resources, and air quality. As elements that possess fundamental significance for all life, how has urban development and technology impacted and intervened into these resources? Can sustainability be achieved only with improved technology? Is sustainability sustainable? (William S. W. Lim) How can we better understand and work with regenerative processes of nature to create a more informed way of living for all?
Host: Paul Teng (Singapore), Professor and Adjunct Senior Fellow, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, NTU
With Joshua Comaroff (United States/Singapore), Assistant Professor, Singapore University of Technology and Design and Design Consultant, Lekker; Eugene Heng (Singapore), Founder and Chairman, Waterways Watch Society; Conrad H. Philipp (Germany/Singapore), Future Cities Laboratory, Singapore-ETH Centre; and Marjetica Potrč (Germany), Professor for Social Design, University of Fine Arts (HFBK), Hamburg
Respondent: Cecilia Tortajada (Mexico and Spain/Singapore), Senior Research Fellow, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore (NUS)
Friday, 20 January 2017
1.30pm Registration
2.00 – 4.00pm
Welcome Address
Ute Meta Bauer and Khim Ong
Structured Conversation #2: Modalities of Exchange
Dedicated to examining various modes of exchange beyond pure economic terms, speakers will share their experiences working across cultures and diverse communities, introducing strategies for bridging differences. How are we able to create shared knowledge and
resource, and intervene into various social and cultural patterns? Can the shared spaces we create allow us to achieve an alternative economy based on social debate, giving, and sharing that can be managed by citizens rather than global finance?
Host: Sophie Goltz (Germany/Singapore), Assistant Professor, NTU ADM / CCA Singapore
With Qinyi Lim (Singapore), independent curator; Matthew Mazzotta(United States), artist; and Woon Tien Wei (Singapore), Post-Museum
Respondent: Yvonne P. Doderer (Germany), Professor for Gender and Cultural Studies, University of Applied Sciences, Düsseldorf
4.15 – 6.30pm
Structured Conversation #3: Critical Spatial Practice
This session explores the social, cultural, and political production of space in relation to urban intervention and the possibilities for individual acts and bottom-up initiatives versus top-down planning. What is the critical mode of spatial practice today? What ideas and options do we have for future urban habitats?
Host: Ute Meta Bauer
With Nikolaus Hirsch (Germany), architect; Hyungmin Pai (South Korea), Director, 1st Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism 2017 and Professor of Architecture, University of Seoul; and Apolonija Šušteršič (Slovenia/Sweden and Norway), artist, architect and Professor, Art & Public Space, Oslo National Academy of the Arts
Respondent: Regina Bittner (Germany), Head of Academy Department and Deputy Director, Bauhaus Dessau
Saturday, 21 January 2017
1.30pm Registration
2.00 – 4.00pm
Welcome Address
Ute Meta Bauer and Khim Ong
Structured Conversation #4: Performing the City
How can artistic practices activate communities, give voice to, and provoke different experiences of our built environment? How do artistic interventions stimulate processes of reflexivity? What are the shared methodologies that allow us to intervene into the social, cultural, and political through performative gestures that animate an alternative understanding and experience of everyday living?
Host: Anca Rujoiu (Romania/Singapore), curator and Manager, Publications, NTU CCA Singapore
With Laura Anderson Barbata (Mexico/United States), artist; Lucy Orta (United Kingdom/France), artist and Professor and Chair of Art and the Environment, University of the Arts London; and Sissel Tolaas (Norway/Germany), artist and smell researcher
Respondents: Sophie Goltz; and Charmaine Toh (Singapore), Curator, National Gallery Singapore
4.15 – 6.30pm
Structured Conversation #5: Who Owns the City
This session explores the social, cultural, and political production of space in relation to urban intervention and the possibilities for individual acts and bottom-up initiatives versus top-down planning. What is the critical mode of spatial practice today? What ideas and options do we have for future urban habitats?
Host: Calvin Chua (Singapore), Adjunct Assistant Professor, Architecture and Sustainable Design, Singapore University of Technology and Design
With Regina Bittner; Yvonne P. Doderer; Lukas Feireiss (Germany), curator and author; and Marjetica Potrč
Respondent: Wong Chen-Hsi (Singapore), Assistant Professor, NTU ADM, Singapore