Curating Regionalism in Southeast Asian Contemporary Art

This lecture will discuss curatorial tendencies in forging an exhibitionary discourse revolved around the idea of Southeast Asia as a region through commonalities in historical, social and political contexts as well as intersecting points in terms of the development of the art practices of the region. It will chart the early attempts at curating Southeast Asia as a region seen in exhibitions such as New Art from Southeast Asia (1992), 36 Ideas from Asia: Contemporary South-East Asian Art (2002) Negotiating Home History and Nation: Two Decades of Contemporary Art in Southeast Asia 1991-2011 (2011) and Intersecting Histories: Contemporary Turns in Southeast Asian Art (2012). In the process, this lecture will also consider the challenges and issues in developing a regional perspective in curating Southeast Asia given its complexities in terms of language, culture, religion, tradition and artistic heritage.

Sotheby's Institute is delighted to be presenting this event, which is part of the series Curating the Contemporary in Asia: Regions, Tradition and the Now, in partnership with Singapore Art Week 2021. In these talks, academics, curators and artists from across the region and its diasporas will come together to discuss the relationship between art, tradition and the contemporary in Asia.

Lecture Date And Fees

Friday, 5 Feb 2021

This event starts at 5.30pm (Singapore); 3.00pm (India); 2.30pm (Pakistan); 9.30am (London). Please note this event will be recorded, for the benefit of people who miss the live broadcast.

Price: £45

Speaker

Jeffrey Say is an art historian specialising in Singapore and Southeast Asian art history. Jeffrey has been instrumental in the development of art history studies at LASALLE College of the Arts, supporting artists to develop a contextual and historical understanding of the evolution of visual arts. In 2009, he designed the world’s first Master’s programme focussing on Asian modern and contemporary art histories. Jeffrey is a public advocate of the importance of art history to Singapore. He is a frequent public speaker at museums, universities and galleries, and conducts short courses which remain hugely popular among various publics. Jeffrey is also a regular commentator on the local visual arts scene. An author of numerous essays on art, his seminal co-edited work Histories, Practices, Interventions: A Reader in Singapore Contemporary Art (2016) remains a critical anthology for researchers, curators and students on Singapore art to date. He is currently working on the second volume on Singapore modern art that will be published in 2022.

Related Events:

Sotheby's Institute is delighted to be presenting a series of events in partnership with Singapore Art Week 2021.

January 29: Curating Calligraphy: Contemporary Ink in Exhibition

February 5: Curating Regionalism in Southeast Asian Contemporary Art

February 12: Timely Traditions? South Asian Pasts & Presents

February 19: Artist Rina Banerjee In Conversation

Please see our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.