April Round-Up

Seattle Art Museum, Asia Forum, Asymmetry Art Foundation, Galerie BAQ, dblspce
By A&M

Anida Yoeu Ali: Hybrid Skin, Mythical Presence

Portrait of Anida Yoeu Ali. Photo by Alborz Kamalizad. Image courtesy of Seattle Art Museum. 

From 18 January to 7 July 2024, ‘Hybrid Skin, Mythical Presence’ at Seattle Art Museum is featuring two performanced-based artworks by Anida Yoeu Ali:  ‘The Buddhist Bug’ and ‘The Red Chador’. The former is centred around a saffron-coloured creature that is nearly 100 metres in length, and expresses the artist’s feelings of displacement between her Cambodian history and her transnational experiences. The latter examines a global rise of the fear of the “other”, in order to challenge perceptions of the unfamiliar rooted in gender, race and religion. Visitors can see the sculptural garments, alongside sculpture, video, photography and installation art that document the performances of these works around the world. Viewed as transformative tools by the artist, the garments are called artifacts rather than artworks when they are in repose and not activated in a performance. This is the first solo exhibition of a Cambodian-American artist at Seattle Art Museum, and the first solo artist since the museum reopened in 2020.

More information here.

A World of Many Worlds

Sandra Gamarra Heshiki, ‘The First on the Right’, 1998, oil on wood, 150 x 140cm. Private collection of Guido Toro. Photo by Juan Pablo Murrugarra. Image courtesy of the artist.

‘A World of Many Worlds’, organised by Asia Forum and Asymmetry Art Foundation, with support by the Bagri Foundation will take place at Fondazione Querini Stampalia on Saturday, 20 April 2024. Part of the Collateral Events of the Biennale Arte 2024, the programme is co-organised by Annie Jael Kwan, Michèle Ruo Yi Landolt, Hammad Nasar, John Tain, Ming Tiampo, and Nick Yu. It responds to the Biennale’s theme ‘Stranieri Ovunque’, or ‘Foreigners Everywhere’. It considers what it means to acknowledge the existence of multiple worlds, through presentations, panel conversations, screenings and performances. Contributors include participating artists at the Biennale Arte 2024, including Isaac Chong Wai, Sandra Gamarra Heshiki, Lap-See Lam, Subash Thebe Limbu, Vidha Saumya and Joshua Serafin. ‘A World of Many Worlds’ invites artists, as well as curators, thinkers, and other practitioners to come together to think about global Asias.

More information here.

Hà Ninh Pham: Fugitive Zone

Hà Ninh Pham, ‘B2 [Square Hamlet]’, 2024, graphite, acrylic, ink, and coloured pencils on paper, 140 x 280cm. Image courtesy of Galerie BAQ.

‘Fugitive Zone’ is the first solo exhibition of Hà Ninh Pham at Galerie BAQ in Paris. In a continuation of his project ‘My Land’ (2017-present), the artist invents a self-sustaining world, with its own infrastructures, operating systems and formal history. The “maps” exhibited are made with the use of materials that are not conventionally associated with Vietnamese art, such as paper, charcoal, paint, ink and plastic, in a bid by the artist to “neutralise” his own history. The viewers, in experiencing the exhibition, realise that they are looking at the lands from afar. While they have a bird’s eye view, they occupy the role of the outsider. This is an invitation to them to consider their oscillating positions between being the surveiller and the surveilled as they go through life. 

The exhibition is made possible with the support and collaboration of A+ Works of Art. The exhibition will run from 28 March to 4 May 2024. More information here. 

Singapore Art Book Library

Singapore Art Book Library at dblspce. Image courtesy of Thing Books.

The SG Art Book Library is a catalogue of published print materials that explore the creative possibilities of art book publishing. This week, it is popping up at dblspce, and open to the public. Browse diverse materials from Singapore and around the world, which have been gathered to represent the work of artists and other practitioners. The Library aims to archive art books that may not otherwise belong to other collections, but represent sustained interest into sociopolitical issues that include but are not limited to gender inequality, racial discrimination and environmental struggles.

The event is organised by Thing Books. dblspce is located at Peninsula Shopping Centre, #02-20, and is accessible from 30 March to 7 April 2024, 1-8pm daily. More information at instagram.com/thingbooks.co.