Let’s Get Into Digital (May-Jun)
Afro-Southeast Asia webinars, Cyber Labyrinth, Falling into its Thingness and Bulanujung
By Danisha Liang
A piece from the ‘Falling into its Thingness’ presentation, Aki Hassan and Rifqi Amirul Rosli, 2021. Image taken from the ‘Falling into its Thingness’ website.
Falling into its Thingness
‘Falling into its Thingness’ is a collaborative virtual presentation that aims to reimagine sculptural possibilities, in response to the limitations that studio-based practices have dealt with in the face of the pandemic. This is a joint project between two artists, Aki Hassan and Rifqi Amirul Rosli. Discussing the parameters which now guard physical art spaces, especially in relation to sculptural work, the artists use the first iteration of Falling into its Thingness to ignite a conversation about the pressures of digitising art practices and skillsets.
Falling into its Thingness. Find the presentation on Instagram here.
Afro-Southeast Asia webinar series logo. Image courtesy of Grey Projects.
Afro-Southeast Asia: Pragmatics and Geopoetics of Art during a Cold War
To accompany the exhibition ‘In Our Best Interests: Afro-Southeast Asian Affinities during a Cold War’ is a series of webinars titled ‘Afro-Southeast Asia: Pragmatics and Geopoetics of Art during a Cold War’. These webinars delve into Cold War decolonisation projects that have materialised from Africa and Southeast Asia, and look towards imagined connections to widen the conversation between the regions. ‘Sparse, Sporadic, Unspectacular: Prehistory and Afro-Southeast Asian Affinities’, taking place on 16 May, will feature speakers Carlos Quijon Jr, Serubiri Moses and Simon Soon.
In Our Best Interest’s Instagram. Webinar website can be found here.
An artwork from Cyber Labyrinth, LightNight Liverpool, 2021. Image taken from LightNight website.
Cyber Labyrinth
‘Cyber Labyrinth’ is a collection of digital artworks curated by Jaxton Su from Singapore & Nien-Ting Chen from Taiwan, as part of LightNight Liverpool. LightNight is a one-night arts festival that includes large-scale light projections and exhibitions in a range of venues. ‘Cyber Labyrinth’ will take place in a pseudo futuristic cyber café, creating an immersive experience for the audience that challenges the ever-changing notion of the future.
Cyber Labyrinth, LightNight Liverpool, 21 May 2021, 5pm to 12am.
“Moral Universes”, Kar-men Cheng, from an ongoing interview series conducted in 2021. Image taken from the Bulanujung website.
Bulanujung: Kar-men Cheng
A thought experiment into digital exhibition of moving images and text in a virtual space, Bulanujung is in its first iteration. Curated by Jeremy Sharma, the platform is titled as such in relation to the Malay expression hujung bulan, which translates to “the end of the moon/month”. ‘Against Disimagination’ showcases works from various artists continuously for 12 weeks, and encourages viewers to think of cyclical durations as the exhibition’s first volume unfolds over time. Kar-men Cheng’s presentation, ‘That as given ... Thinking about Art and Language’ is displayed from 7 May 2021, and uses linguistics and text to dissect the world around us.
That as given ... Thinking about Art and Language, 7 May to 20 May 2021. Bulanujung, 26 March to 20 June 2021.
Art Fair Philippines 2021: Emerging Forms, Spaces, and Ideas: Conversations with Cebuano Artists
As part of the 2021 edition of Art Fair Philippines, Fr. Jason Dy SJ will be moderating a talk on 14 May, over Zoom with Cebuano artists Russ Ligtas, Kolown, Ivy Marie Apa, and Ronyel Compra. The discussion will focus on practices that have helped the artists broaden their local geographical connections and make links to relevant social issues through art.
Register for the talk here. Art Fair Philippines 2021, 6 May to 15 May 2021.
Left: Maryanto, ‘Sapa Seneng Ngrusak Ketentremane Alam lan Liyan Bakal Dibendhu deneng Pangeran lan Dielehke dening Tumindhake Dhewe’ #1 2021, 1.5 x 2m, charcoal on canvas. Right: Ruangsak Anuwatwimon, ‘Excavated Gods (still)’, 2021, single channel video, colour, sound. Image courtesy of The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre and MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum.
‘The Gatherers’
The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre and Selasar Sunaryo Art Centre (Bandung) are co-hosting the symposia ‘The Gatherers’ from 28 to 30 May 2021, as part of the third edition of ‘Pollination’, titled ‘ofhuntersandgatherers’. Held over Zoom with a livestream via YouTube live, the event accompanies the exhibition ‘The Hunters’, on show at MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, and will include curators LIR (Mira Asriningtyas and Dito Yuwono) and Kittima Chareeprasit as speakers, among others. Together with a dedicated website launching 28 May, we will see the culmination of the year-long field research undertaken by the artists Maryanto and Ruangsak Anuwatwimon along Mount Merapi and Lower Mekong, which ruminate on the delicate balance that needs to be struck between the human and non-human worlds for sustainable living.
