Public Art]]> Cultural Heritage]]> Identity]]>

Yinka Shonibare CBE RA, an artist of African descent, was born in London and grew up in Nigeria, returning to London only in his late teens. His work explores issues of colonialism and postcolonialism within the contemporary context of globalisation, as well
as race and class. Mixing Western art history and literature, he questions the construct of collective contemporary identity and its meaning within cultural and national definitions. Shonibare has participated in major international art exhibitions, including the 52nd and 57th Venice Biennale and Documenta11. His works are in prominent collections, including the Tate Collection, London; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington; Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; National Gallery of Modern
Art, Rome; and VandenBroek Foundation, the Netherlands. In 2004, Shonibare was nominated for the Turner Prize, the most prestigious annual art prize in United Kingdom, and was awarded the decoration of Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE). Fifteen years later, in January 2019, Shonibare was awarded Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE). That same year, he held a solo exhibition at the Norval Foundation in Cape Town, Trade Winds: Yinka Shonibare CBE, which featured works connected by their use of Dutch wax fabric and a major installation that celebrates the contributions of immigrant and non-immigrant Africans, The African Library.

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Africa]]> Southeast Asia]]>
Identity]]> Cultural Heritage]]> The Geocultural]]> 21 Jun 2014, Sat 3:00pm - 5:30pm

A forum featuring The Otolith Group, Marian Pastor Roces, T. K. Sabapathy and June Yap.

The idea of “country” powerfully embodies notions of identity, belonging, community and genealogy. When viewers engage global contemporary art, there is often the reflex to locate the artist by ethnicity and geography. Today, many artists seem burdened, perhaps unduly, to represent their place in the world. An individual artist may always speak from a place, but must he or she always speak about it? While the title of the exhibition, No Country may appear as if to negate country and nation, the aim of the forum is not to make declarations but rather to raise questions for discussion and dialogue.

A public programme of No Country: Contemporary Art for South and Southeast Asia.]]>
The Otolith Group]]> Marian Pastor Roces]]> T. K. Sabapathy]]> June Yap]]> Southeast Asia]]> Asia]]>
Curatorial Practice]]> Cultural Heritage]]> The Geocultural]]> 11 Jul 2014, Fri 7:30pm - 9:00pm

The title of No Country draws from the opening line of a poem by William Butler Yeats, “Sailing to Byzantium” (1928), which was adapted into a contemporary thriller by Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men (2005), and presented in filmic form by the Coen Brothers (2007). No Country: Contemporary Art for South and Southeast Asia appropriates the historical, geographic and intertextual traversal of Irish poem, American novel and film to an exhibition on Asia, and in so doing references the traces and overlaps in the exchanges and adaptations that are characteristic of the histories and cultures of the South and Southeast Asia. While appearing as if a negation of country and nation, No Country rather gestures to an exploration of the problematic nature of the cartography of nation and culture. In this talk, No Country curator June Yap and Zoe Butt from Sàn Art, explore curatorial strategies in negotiating contemporary mappings and representations of Asia today.

This curators' talk is a public programme of No Country: Contemporary Art for South and Southeast Asia.]]>
Zoe Butt]]> June Yap]]> Southeast Asia]]> Asia]]>
Cultural Heritage]]> History]]> Mon 23 Mar 2015 7.30PM - 9.00PM

"When does contemporary art in Singapore begin? What are the defining characteristics that distinguish contemporary art from that of Modern Art? What correspondence is there between the formation of contemporary art and other aspects of Singapore's development as a culture and nation?" This talk will discuss such questions and others in the process of outlining the historical formation of contemporary art today.]]>
Charles Merewether]]> Southeast Asia]]>
Labour]]> Curatorial Practice]]> Cultural Heritage]]> 24 Mar 2015, Tue 7:30pm - 9:00pm
Seminar Room, Block 43 Malan Road
Tara McDowell will explore the shifts from artist and curator, to cultural and creative worker, as points of entry to discuss labour issues that may have been overlooked.]]>
Tara McDowell]]> Asia]]> Oceania]]>
History]]> Cultural Heritage]]> 2 Apr 2015, Thu 7:00pm - 8:30pm

Simryn Gill quizzes eminent art historian, T. K. Sabapathy whose art historical scholarship is found in the studying of the great Asian art traditions of India, China and Southeast Asia. Yet his research and extensive publications are in modern art in South and Southeast Asia. The talk deals with this and with many other matters.

*This talk is part of the Louis Vuitton – SOTA Arts Excellence Programme and a public programme of Simryn Gill: Hugging The Shore.]]>
Simryn Gill]]> T. K. Sabapathy]]> Asia]]> Southeast Asia]]>
Cultural Heritage]]> Curatorial Practice]]> Institutional Critique]]> Blk 43 Malan Road, The Single Screen

A workshop led by T.K. Sabapathy, NTU CCA Singapore Research Fellow
Organised by NTU CCA Singapore in collaboration with National Gallery Singapore]]>
T.K. Sabapathy]]> Southeast Asia]]>
Keynote Lecture: "In A Time of Earthquakes: Contemporary Chinese Artists Shake the World” by Professor Aihwa Ong]]> Geopolitics]]> Cultural Heritage]]> National Gallery Singapore, Auditorium

The rise of China as an economic and a political power has reshaped the global order. At a recent policy forum in Tokyo, Singapore’s Ambassador-at-Large, Bilahari Kausikan, spoke about how Southeast Asian countries must be able to stand up to and get along with China at the same time. Indeed, any appreciation of the geopolitical situation of the region has to consider the presence of Asia’s largest nation and economy. In her keynote lecture, Professor Aihwa Ong speaks about how the emergence of Chinese contemporary art is also reshaping a global cultural order, and discusses the ramifications for Southeast Asian artists and their societies.

Respondent:
Professor C.J. Wee Wan-ling]]>
Aihwa Ong]]> C.J. Wee Wan-ling]]> C.J. Wan-ling Wee]]> C. J. W.-L. Wee]]> Southeast Asia]]> Asia]]>
Performance]]> Tradition]]> Cultural Heritage]]> 17 Jan 2017, Tue 12:00 PM - 04:30 PM
Studio #01-02, Block 37 Malan Road

12.30 – 1.30pm Talk: Transcommunality: Collaboration Beyond Borders by Laura Anderson Barbata

For over 20 years, transdisciplinary artist Laura Anderson Barbata has worked on long-term, participatory art initiatives in many parts of the world (Venezuela, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Norway and Brooklyn, New York) that merge art practice with social action. Transcommunality presents the artist’s work with the Brooklyn Jumbies—an African diasporic stilt dancing performance group—with stilt-dancing communities from Mexico, the West Indies and Brooklyn and master artisans from Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, and the United States.

Laura Anderson Barbata and the Brooklyn Jumbies have worked together for over 10 years in Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, Jamaica and New York creating public presentations for Carnival and performance ¨interventions¨ that combine social commentary, dance, music, sculpture, and costuming. Transcommunality highlights the vitality of the moko jumbie stilt walking tradition and demonstrates the possibility of using this storied art form as a platform for social contemporary performance, group participation and protest. The project combines community participation in construction, development, and presentation of the work.

2.00 – 4.30pm Workshop: Transcommunality: Collaboration Beyond Borders by Laura Anderson Barbata and the Brooklyn Jumbies

In this workshop, the participants (individual or groups) share about their practices and traditions, while Anderson Barbara and the Brooklyn Jumbies present the history of stilt dancing in Mexico, West Africa, and the Caribbean. The session will focus on the exchange of history, traditions, and knowledge through images, talking, and demonstration. This workshop is open to anyone interested in dance, performance, and movement.

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Laura Anderson Barbata]]> Brooklyn Jumbies ]]> North America]]> South America]]>
Cultural Heritage]]> Materiality]]> 25 Aug 2018, Sat 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
The Single Screen, Block 43 Malan Road

A climbing palm of tropical Southeast Asia, rattan has supplied material over the centuries for everyday objects and artworks. What is the surface made of? What are the unique characteristics of rattan? Examining laboratory analysis from electron microscopy, confocal laser scanning, and stereo-microscopy, this lecture focuses on rattan’s lustrous surface and material stability.

A public programme of Trees of Life – Knowledge in Material.]]>
Hanna Szczepanowska]]> Southeast Asia]]>