Kuandu Biennale 2016 - Slaying Monsters
2016.09.30～2016.12.11
09:00 - 17:00
Artists＋Curators｜ [ Taiwan ] LU MING-TE + LAI YING-YING [ Taiwan ] ZHANG-XU ZHAN + GONG JOW-JIUN [ Australia ] RAMESH MARIO NITHIYENDRAN + GLENN BARKLEY [ China ] ZHANG PEI-LI + LU MING-JUN [ Indonesia ] TROMARAMA + ASIKIN HASAN [ Japan ] TSUBAKI NOBORU + KENICHIRO MOGI [ Korea ] AHN KYU-CHUL + LEE DAE-HYUNG [ Malaysia ] SAMSUDIN WAHAB + NUR HANIM MOHAMED KHAIRUDDIN [ Singapore ] LIM TZAY-CHUEN + LEE WENG-CHOY [ Vietnam ] NGUYEN PHUONG LINH + NGUYEN NHU HUY 【INTRODUCTION】 Treating
slaying monsters” as its main theme, the 2016 Kuandu Biennale cordially invited ten pairs of artists and curators from Taiwan, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore to accomplish the great achievement of the Biennale with concerted efforts. They will collectively create a new myth of Asian contemporary civilization by ways of conflict, creation, transformation, breakout, adventure, and so forth. The term
slaying monsters” in the world of video games refers to attacking and annihilating vicious monsters therein. Players can accumulate points, reach higher levels and break through barricades only by
slaying monsters.” On top of that, players gain a sense of achievement primarily from breaking through barricades and reaching higher levels when playing video games. However,
slaying monsters” is not only the kernel of video games but also the very source of pleasure and entertainment for players. It is also now an idiomatic phrase referring to surviving hardships in real work environments, which is why it has become a turn of expression drifting amid real-life and virtual experiences. To put it another way,
slaying monsters” implies not only the materialization of games but also the gamification of realities. In this sense, we may wonder whether the mode and corporeality of
slaying monsters” in video games have unobtrusively and imperceptibly influenced and changed our real lives in terms of social structure and ideology. Since the arts serve as a highly entertaining means of narration, we may also wonder whether artists intervene in the social, political, historical, and cultural contexts by virtue of the mode and sensation of
slaying monsters.” What would the monsters be if artists are requested to slay them? Do the artists fail to live up to our extravagant claims of slaying monsters when they staunchly display heroism in the scheme of modernization? What on earth should we be prepared to slay? Is it art history, neo-liberalism, the colonial perspective of history, or the hierarchical system of contemporary art? Or, the unconquerable institutional difficulty and ideological monsters are actually what we make of them. How could we
slay monsters” if heroes and monsters are in fact the two sides of the same contemporary civilization? The Kuandu Biennale is about to celebrate its tenth anniversary. Revolving around the axis of
curating,” the Kuandu Beinnale was inaugurated with the theme
Have a Dream” in 2008, via
Plus” (2010),
Artist in Wonderland” (2012),
Recognition System” (2014) to
Slaying Monsters” this year. Following the innovative collaboration pattern of ten pairs of artists and curators, we have established the sui generis subjectivity and seized the power of discourse for the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts. The
Asian Contemporary Art Forum” is scheduled to be held on 30 September as an accompaniment to the 2016 Kuandu Biennale. The Forum will serve as a congenial platform for the dialogue and exchange among Asian artists, curators, critics, art communities as well as art buffs. We expect this gala event to build up momentum for Asian contemporary art, manifesting the creative energy and academic aspiration as the genuine spirits of university museums.
slaying monsters” as its main theme, the 2016 Kuandu Biennale cordially invited ten pairs of artists and curators from Taiwan, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore to accomplish the great achievement of the Biennale with concerted efforts. They will collectively create a new myth of Asian contemporary civilization by ways of conflict, creation, transformation, breakout, adventure, and so forth. The term
slaying monsters” in the world of video games refers to attacking and annihilating vicious monsters therein. Players can accumulate points, reach higher levels and break through barricades only by
slaying monsters.” On top of that, players gain a sense of achievement primarily from breaking through barricades and reaching higher levels when playing video games. However,
slaying monsters” is not only the kernel of video games but also the very source of pleasure and entertainment for players. It is also now an idiomatic phrase referring to surviving hardships in real work environments, which is why it has become a turn of expression drifting amid real-life and virtual experiences. To put it another way,
slaying monsters” implies not only the materialization of games but also the gamification of realities. In this sense, we may wonder whether the mode and corporeality of
slaying monsters” in video games have unobtrusively and imperceptibly influenced and changed our real lives in terms of social structure and ideology. Since the arts serve as a highly entertaining means of narration, we may also wonder whether artists intervene in the social, political, historical, and cultural contexts by virtue of the mode and sensation of
slaying monsters.” What would the monsters be if artists are requested to slay them? Do the artists fail to live up to our extravagant claims of slaying monsters when they staunchly display heroism in the scheme of modernization? What on earth should we be prepared to slay? Is it art history, neo-liberalism, the colonial perspective of history, or the hierarchical system of contemporary art? Or, the unconquerable institutional difficulty and ideological monsters are actually what we make of them. How could we
slay monsters” if heroes and monsters are in fact the two sides of the same contemporary civilization? The Kuandu Biennale is about to celebrate its tenth anniversary. Revolving around the axis of
curating,” the Kuandu Beinnale was inaugurated with the theme
Have a Dream” in 2008, via
Plus” (2010),
Artist in Wonderland” (2012),
Recognition System” (2014) to
Slaying Monsters” this year. Following the innovative collaboration pattern of ten pairs of artists and curators, we have established the sui generis subjectivity and seized the power of discourse for the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts. The
Asian Contemporary Art Forum” is scheduled to be held on 30 September as an accompaniment to the 2016 Kuandu Biennale. The Forum will serve as a congenial platform for the dialogue and exchange among Asian artists, curators, critics, art communities as well as art buffs. We expect this gala event to build up momentum for Asian contemporary art, manifesting the creative energy and academic aspiration as the genuine spirits of university museums.
Artists＋Curators｜ [ Taiwan ] LU MING-TE + LAI YING-YING [ Taiwan ] ZHANG-XU ZHAN + GONG JOW-JIUN [ Australia ] RAMESH MARIO NITHIYENDRAN + GLENN BARKLEY [ China ] ZHANG PEI-LI + LU MING-JUN [ Indonesia ] TROMARAMA + ASIKIN HASAN [ Japan ] TSUBAKI NOBORU + KENICHIRO MOGI [ Korea ] AHN KYU-CHUL + LEE DAE-HYUNG [ Malaysia ] SAMSUDIN WAHAB + NUR HANIM MOHAMED KHAIRUDDIN [ Singapore ] LIM TZAY-CHUEN + LEE WENG-CHOY [ Vietnam ] NGUYEN PHUONG LINH + NGUYEN NHU HUY 【INTRODUCTION】 Treating
slaying monsters” as its main theme, the 2016 Kuandu Biennale cordially invited ten pairs of artists and curators from Taiwan, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore to accomplish the great achievement of the Biennale with concerted efforts. They will collectively create a new myth of Asian contemporary civilization by ways of conflict, creation, transformation, breakout, adventure, and so forth. The term
slaying monsters” in the world of video games refers to attacking and annihilating vicious monsters therein. Players can accumulate points, reach higher levels and break through barricades only by
slaying monsters.” On top of that, players gain a sense of achievement primarily from breaking through barricades and reaching higher levels when playing video games. However,
slaying monsters” is not only the kernel of video games but also the very source of pleasure and entertainment for players. It is also now an idiomatic phrase referring to surviving hardships in real work environments, which is why it has become a turn of expression drifting amid real-life and virtual experiences. To put it another way,
slaying monsters” implies not only the materialization of games but also the gamification of realities. In this sense, we may wonder whether the mode and corporeality of
slaying monsters” in video games have unobtrusively and imperceptibly influenced and changed our real lives in terms of social structure and ideology. Since the arts serve as a highly entertaining means of narration, we may also wonder whether artists intervene in the social, political, historical, and cultural contexts by virtue of the mode and sensation of
slaying monsters.” What would the monsters be if artists are requested to slay them? Do the artists fail to live up to our extravagant claims of slaying monsters when they staunchly display heroism in the scheme of modernization? What on earth should we be prepared to slay? Is it art history, neo-liberalism, the colonial perspective of history, or the hierarchical system of contemporary art? Or, the unconquerable institutional difficulty and ideological monsters are actually what we make of them. How could we
slay monsters” if heroes and monsters are in fact the two sides of the same contemporary civilization? The Kuandu Biennale is about to celebrate its tenth anniversary. Revolving around the axis of
curating,” the Kuandu Beinnale was inaugurated with the theme
Have a Dream” in 2008, via
Plus” (2010),
Artist in Wonderland” (2012),
Recognition System” (2014) to
Slaying Monsters” this year. Following the innovative collaboration pattern of ten pairs of artists and curators, we have established the sui generis subjectivity and seized the power of discourse for the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts. The
Asian Contemporary Art Forum” is scheduled to be held on 30 September as an accompaniment to the 2016 Kuandu Biennale. The Forum will serve as a congenial platform for the dialogue and exchange among Asian artists, curators, critics, art communities as well as art buffs. We expect this gala event to build up momentum for Asian contemporary art, manifesting the creative energy and academic aspiration as the genuine spirits of university museums.
slaying monsters” as its main theme, the 2016 Kuandu Biennale cordially invited ten pairs of artists and curators from Taiwan, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore to accomplish the great achievement of the Biennale with concerted efforts. They will collectively create a new myth of Asian contemporary civilization by ways of conflict, creation, transformation, breakout, adventure, and so forth. The term
slaying monsters” in the world of video games refers to attacking and annihilating vicious monsters therein. Players can accumulate points, reach higher levels and break through barricades only by
slaying monsters.” On top of that, players gain a sense of achievement primarily from breaking through barricades and reaching higher levels when playing video games. However,
slaying monsters” is not only the kernel of video games but also the very source of pleasure and entertainment for players. It is also now an idiomatic phrase referring to surviving hardships in real work environments, which is why it has become a turn of expression drifting amid real-life and virtual experiences. To put it another way,
slaying monsters” implies not only the materialization of games but also the gamification of realities. In this sense, we may wonder whether the mode and corporeality of
slaying monsters” in video games have unobtrusively and imperceptibly influenced and changed our real lives in terms of social structure and ideology. Since the arts serve as a highly entertaining means of narration, we may also wonder whether artists intervene in the social, political, historical, and cultural contexts by virtue of the mode and sensation of
slaying monsters.” What would the monsters be if artists are requested to slay them? Do the artists fail to live up to our extravagant claims of slaying monsters when they staunchly display heroism in the scheme of modernization? What on earth should we be prepared to slay? Is it art history, neo-liberalism, the colonial perspective of history, or the hierarchical system of contemporary art? Or, the unconquerable institutional difficulty and ideological monsters are actually what we make of them. How could we
slay monsters” if heroes and monsters are in fact the two sides of the same contemporary civilization? The Kuandu Biennale is about to celebrate its tenth anniversary. Revolving around the axis of
curating,” the Kuandu Beinnale was inaugurated with the theme
Have a Dream” in 2008, via
Plus” (2010),
Artist in Wonderland” (2012),
Recognition System” (2014) to
Slaying Monsters” this year. Following the innovative collaboration pattern of ten pairs of artists and curators, we have established the sui generis subjectivity and seized the power of discourse for the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts. The
Asian Contemporary Art Forum” is scheduled to be held on 30 September as an accompaniment to the 2016 Kuandu Biennale. The Forum will serve as a congenial platform for the dialogue and exchange among Asian artists, curators, critics, art communities as well as art buffs. We expect this gala event to build up momentum for Asian contemporary art, manifesting the creative energy and academic aspiration as the genuine spirits of university museums.
Artist-Lu Ming-Te Lu Ming-Te born in 1950, Kaohsiung City, graduated in 1974 from Department of Fine Arts, National Taiwan Normal University, majored in oil painting and sculpture. With the recommendation of Prof. Liao Shiou-Ping, Lu was enrolled in the School of Art and Design, University of Tsukuba, Japan in 1981 under the supervision of Yamaguchi Katsuhiro, Mitamura Shunyu, Shinoda Morio, and Kawaguchi Tatsuo. He earned his master’s degree in March 1985 with the thesis titled “A Study on the Development of 20th-Century Mixed-Media Art.” Lu had taught the courses on gestaltung and mixed-media art in the Department of Fine Arts, Tunghai University and National Taiwan Normal University after he returned to Taiwan in August 1985. Lu Ming-Te’s work Mt. DaDu I has been collected by The East-West Center, Hawaii, the United States, and Mt. DaDu II (1986) by Taipei Fine Arts Museum. He won the R.O.C. Modern Art New Prospect for his work Antithesis (1988). He also won the Li Zhong-Sheng Foundation Painting Award in 1991. 1994 Lu taught the courses on gestaltung and mixed-media art in the Department of Fine Arts, National Kaohsiung Normal University, and He had been the chairman of the department since 1997, and the dean of the College of Arts since 2003. He further established the Graduate Institute of Interdisciplinary Art and served as the director from 2006 to 2016. This institute expands the creation of mixed-media art with interdisciplinary thinking, thereby fulfilling the philosophy of mutual-stimulation, constructive dialogue and reciprocal exchange between arts and other disciplines. Curator-Lai Ying-Ying
Lai Ying-Ying now is a professor and the director at the Graduate School of Arts Management and Cultural Policy, National Taiwan University of Arts. She was active as the Deputy Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei and served over 20 years as a senior curator at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. Ms. Lai received her Ph.D. degree in art education and art administration from the National Taiwan Normal University, and is the director of the Research Center for Museum Studies based in National Taiwan University of Arts. She is also a board member of ICOM-INTERCOM, ICOM-FIHRM and Chinese Museum Association, Taiwan. Ms. Lai has curated many exhibitions, such as “The World According to Dada”, “Gravity of the Immaterial”, “Labyrinth of Pleasure”, “Chihung Yang’s Genes of Creativity”, etc. She is also the author of “LI Yuan-chia and Global Conceptual Art”, “Media is Everything: Art Media as Carrier of Concept by Lu Ming-te art”, “Art into Action: Taiwanese Activists from 1960s to 1980s”, Taiwanese Avant-Garde, Complex Art in the 1960s, A Reflexive Study of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum’s Exhibition (1983-2007), Contemporary Arts Management, etc.
Lai Ying-Ying now is a professor and the director at the Graduate School of Arts Management and Cultural Policy, National Taiwan University of Arts. She was active as the Deputy Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei and served over 20 years as a senior curator at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. Ms. Lai received her Ph.D. degree in art education and art administration from the National Taiwan Normal University, and is the director of the Research Center for Museum Studies based in National Taiwan University of Arts. She is also a board member of ICOM-INTERCOM, ICOM-FIHRM and Chinese Museum Association, Taiwan. Ms. Lai has curated many exhibitions, such as “The World According to Dada”, “Gravity of the Immaterial”, “Labyrinth of Pleasure”, “Chihung Yang’s Genes of Creativity”, etc. She is also the author of “LI Yuan-chia and Global Conceptual Art”, “Media is Everything: Art Media as Carrier of Concept by Lu Ming-te art”, “Art into Action: Taiwanese Activists from 1960s to 1980s”, Taiwanese Avant-Garde, Complex Art in the 1960s, A Reflexive Study of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum’s Exhibition (1983-2007), Contemporary Arts Management, etc.
Artist-Lu Ming-Te Lu Ming-Te born in 1950, Kaohsiung City, graduated in 1974 from Department of Fine Arts, National Taiwan Normal University, majored in oil painting and sculpture. With the recommendation of Prof. Liao Shiou-Ping, Lu was enrolled in the School of Art and Design, University of Tsukuba, Japan in 1981 under the supervision of Yamaguchi Katsuhiro, Mitamura Shunyu, Shinoda Morio, and Kawaguchi Tatsuo. He earned his master’s degree in March 1985 with the thesis titled “A Study on the Development of 20th-Century Mixed-Media Art.” Lu had taught the courses on gestaltung and mixed-media art in the Department of Fine Arts, Tunghai University and National Taiwan Normal University after he returned to Taiwan in August 1985. Lu Ming-Te’s work Mt. DaDu I has been collected by The East-West Center, Hawaii, the United States, and Mt. DaDu II (1986) by Taipei Fine Arts Museum. He won the R.O.C. Modern Art New Prospect for his work Antithesis (1988). He also won the Li Zhong-Sheng Foundation Painting Award in 1991. 1994 Lu taught the courses on gestaltung and mixed-media art in the Department of Fine Arts, National Kaohsiung Normal University, and He had been the chairman of the department since 1997, and the dean of the College of Arts since 2003. He further established the Graduate Institute of Interdisciplinary Art and served as the director from 2006 to 2016. This institute expands the creation of mixed-media art with interdisciplinary thinking, thereby fulfilling the philosophy of mutual-stimulation, constructive dialogue and reciprocal exchange between arts and other disciplines. Curator-Lai Ying-Ying
Lai Ying-Ying now is a professor and the director at the Graduate School of Arts Management and Cultural Policy, National Taiwan University of Arts. She was active as the Deputy Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei and served over 20 years as a senior curator at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. Ms. Lai received her Ph.D. degree in art education and art administration from the National Taiwan Normal University, and is the director of the Research Center for Museum Studies based in National Taiwan University of Arts. She is also a board member of ICOM-INTERCOM, ICOM-FIHRM and Chinese Museum Association, Taiwan. Ms. Lai has curated many exhibitions, such as “The World According to Dada”, “Gravity of the Immaterial”, “Labyrinth of Pleasure”, “Chihung Yang’s Genes of Creativity”, etc. She is also the author of “LI Yuan-chia and Global Conceptual Art”, “Media is Everything: Art Media as Carrier of Concept by Lu Ming-te art”, “Art into Action: Taiwanese Activists from 1960s to 1980s”, Taiwanese Avant-Garde, Complex Art in the 1960s, A Reflexive Study of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum’s Exhibition (1983-2007), Contemporary Arts Management, etc.
Lai Ying-Ying now is a professor and the director at the Graduate School of Arts Management and Cultural Policy, National Taiwan University of Arts. She was active as the Deputy Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei and served over 20 years as a senior curator at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. Ms. Lai received her Ph.D. degree in art education and art administration from the National Taiwan Normal University, and is the director of the Research Center for Museum Studies based in National Taiwan University of Arts. She is also a board member of ICOM-INTERCOM, ICOM-FIHRM and Chinese Museum Association, Taiwan. Ms. Lai has curated many exhibitions, such as “The World According to Dada”, “Gravity of the Immaterial”, “Labyrinth of Pleasure”, “Chihung Yang’s Genes of Creativity”, etc. She is also the author of “LI Yuan-chia and Global Conceptual Art”, “Media is Everything: Art Media as Carrier of Concept by Lu Ming-te art”, “Art into Action: Taiwanese Activists from 1960s to 1980s”, Taiwanese Avant-Garde, Complex Art in the 1960s, A Reflexive Study of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum’s Exhibition (1983-2007), Contemporary Arts Management, etc.
Artist-Zhang-Xu Zhan
Zhang-Xu Zhan was born into the popular century-old Hsin Hsing Joss Paper Store in Xinzhuang, Taipei County, he specializes in creating a riotous profusion of paper effigies ranging from luxurious mansions and oversized paper dolls to paper-pasted mythological animals and flowers. Zhang-Xu Zhan graduated from Taipei National University of the Arts with a master degree in New Media Art in 2016, the artist is also proficient in employing diverse media such as drawing, stop-motion paper doll and multi-channel video installation to create animations, videos, experimental films and extended images. His artworks not only revolve around absurd and bizarre images, but also encapsulate his wry observations on strange social phenomena and the cul-de-sac his family business (memories) faces. In other words, the artist’s works feature the unending decay and the post-revelry, companion-lessness that serve as part of his life’s rich tapestry. Important group exhibitions, including：”7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art - APT7 Cinema”in Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Australia, “27th International Short Film Festival of Berlin – interfilm” in Berlin, Germany, “2015 Asia Art Biennial - Artist Making Movement”in National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan, “Fantastic Fest - DRAWN AND QUARTERED”in Austin, Texas, USA, “Asia Digital Art Award” in Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan. Curator-Gong Jow-Jiun Gong Jow-Jiun, full-time associate professor of Doctoral Program in Art Creation and Theory, Tainan National University of the Arts, obtained his Ph.D. degree from the Ph.D. Program of Department of Philosophy, National Taiwan University in 1998. Gong's areas of study include French contemporary philosophy, phenomenology, psychology and aesthetics. He has published numerous essays and books, including Dispositif of the body: Merleau-Ponty at the limits of phenomenology, “The Technology of Self Motivating Real Bodies: Reading Foucault's Later Works via Grotowski” in Art Critique of Taiwan and “Between Embodiments of Body and Technology: The Phenomenology of Media Art” in Visual Arts. He also translated The Poetic of Space and Eye and Mind into Chinese. In recent years, Gong has also started curating exhibitions and writing art critiques, while organizing modernologic activities regarding cities and communities, including "Are We Working Too Much?" (2013) in Eslite Gallery, "The Return of Ghosts" (2014) in Hong-gah Museum, and "The Place I Want to Take You to – A Workshop on City Memories: The Past and the Present of Shui-jiao-she" (June 2015).
Zhang-Xu Zhan was born into the popular century-old Hsin Hsing Joss Paper Store in Xinzhuang, Taipei County, he specializes in creating a riotous profusion of paper effigies ranging from luxurious mansions and oversized paper dolls to paper-pasted mythological animals and flowers. Zhang-Xu Zhan graduated from Taipei National University of the Arts with a master degree in New Media Art in 2016, the artist is also proficient in employing diverse media such as drawing, stop-motion paper doll and multi-channel video installation to create animations, videos, experimental films and extended images. His artworks not only revolve around absurd and bizarre images, but also encapsulate his wry observations on strange social phenomena and the cul-de-sac his family business (memories) faces. In other words, the artist’s works feature the unending decay and the post-revelry, companion-lessness that serve as part of his life’s rich tapestry. Important group exhibitions, including：”7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art - APT7 Cinema”in Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Australia, “27th International Short Film Festival of Berlin – interfilm” in Berlin, Germany, “2015 Asia Art Biennial - Artist Making Movement”in National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan, “Fantastic Fest - DRAWN AND QUARTERED”in Austin, Texas, USA, “Asia Digital Art Award” in Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan. Curator-Gong Jow-Jiun Gong Jow-Jiun, full-time associate professor of Doctoral Program in Art Creation and Theory, Tainan National University of the Arts, obtained his Ph.D. degree from the Ph.D. Program of Department of Philosophy, National Taiwan University in 1998. Gong's areas of study include French contemporary philosophy, phenomenology, psychology and aesthetics. He has published numerous essays and books, including Dispositif of the body: Merleau-Ponty at the limits of phenomenology, “The Technology of Self Motivating Real Bodies: Reading Foucault's Later Works via Grotowski” in Art Critique of Taiwan and “Between Embodiments of Body and Technology: The Phenomenology of Media Art” in Visual Arts. He also translated The Poetic of Space and Eye and Mind into Chinese. In recent years, Gong has also started curating exhibitions and writing art critiques, while organizing modernologic activities regarding cities and communities, including "Are We Working Too Much?" (2013) in Eslite Gallery, "The Return of Ghosts" (2014) in Hong-gah Museum, and "The Place I Want to Take You to – A Workshop on City Memories: The Past and the Present of Shui-jiao-she" (June 2015).
Artist-Zhang-Xu Zhan
Zhang-Xu Zhan was born into the popular century-old Hsin Hsing Joss Paper Store in Xinzhuang, Taipei County, he specializes in creating a riotous profusion of paper effigies ranging from luxurious mansions and oversized paper dolls to paper-pasted mythological animals and flowers. Zhang-Xu Zhan graduated from Taipei National University of the Arts with a master degree in New Media Art in 2016, the artist is also proficient in employing diverse media such as drawing, stop-motion paper doll and multi-channel video installation to create animations, videos, experimental films and extended images. His artworks not only revolve around absurd and bizarre images, but also encapsulate his wry observations on strange social phenomena and the cul-de-sac his family business (memories) faces. In other words, the artist’s works feature the unending decay and the post-revelry, companion-lessness that serve as part of his life’s rich tapestry. Important group exhibitions, including：”7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art - APT7 Cinema”in Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Australia, “27th International Short Film Festival of Berlin – interfilm” in Berlin, Germany, “2015 Asia Art Biennial - Artist Making Movement”in National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan, “Fantastic Fest - DRAWN AND QUARTERED”in Austin, Texas, USA, “Asia Digital Art Award” in Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan. Curator-Gong Jow-Jiun Gong Jow-Jiun, full-time associate professor of Doctoral Program in Art Creation and Theory, Tainan National University of the Arts, obtained his Ph.D. degree from the Ph.D. Program of Department of Philosophy, National Taiwan University in 1998. Gong's areas of study include French contemporary philosophy, phenomenology, psychology and aesthetics. He has published numerous essays and books, including Dispositif of the body: Merleau-Ponty at the limits of phenomenology, “The Technology of Self Motivating Real Bodies: Reading Foucault's Later Works via Grotowski” in Art Critique of Taiwan and “Between Embodiments of Body and Technology: The Phenomenology of Media Art” in Visual Arts. He also translated The Poetic of Space and Eye and Mind into Chinese. In recent years, Gong has also started curating exhibitions and writing art critiques, while organizing modernologic activities regarding cities and communities, including "Are We Working Too Much?" (2013) in Eslite Gallery, "The Return of Ghosts" (2014) in Hong-gah Museum, and "The Place I Want to Take You to – A Workshop on City Memories: The Past and the Present of Shui-jiao-she" (June 2015).
Zhang-Xu Zhan was born into the popular century-old Hsin Hsing Joss Paper Store in Xinzhuang, Taipei County, he specializes in creating a riotous profusion of paper effigies ranging from luxurious mansions and oversized paper dolls to paper-pasted mythological animals and flowers. Zhang-Xu Zhan graduated from Taipei National University of the Arts with a master degree in New Media Art in 2016, the artist is also proficient in employing diverse media such as drawing, stop-motion paper doll and multi-channel video installation to create animations, videos, experimental films and extended images. His artworks not only revolve around absurd and bizarre images, but also encapsulate his wry observations on strange social phenomena and the cul-de-sac his family business (memories) faces. In other words, the artist’s works feature the unending decay and the post-revelry, companion-lessness that serve as part of his life’s rich tapestry. Important group exhibitions, including：”7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art - APT7 Cinema”in Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Australia, “27th International Short Film Festival of Berlin – interfilm” in Berlin, Germany, “2015 Asia Art Biennial - Artist Making Movement”in National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan, “Fantastic Fest - DRAWN AND QUARTERED”in Austin, Texas, USA, “Asia Digital Art Award” in Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan. Curator-Gong Jow-Jiun Gong Jow-Jiun, full-time associate professor of Doctoral Program in Art Creation and Theory, Tainan National University of the Arts, obtained his Ph.D. degree from the Ph.D. Program of Department of Philosophy, National Taiwan University in 1998. Gong's areas of study include French contemporary philosophy, phenomenology, psychology and aesthetics. He has published numerous essays and books, including Dispositif of the body: Merleau-Ponty at the limits of phenomenology, “The Technology of Self Motivating Real Bodies: Reading Foucault's Later Works via Grotowski” in Art Critique of Taiwan and “Between Embodiments of Body and Technology: The Phenomenology of Media Art” in Visual Arts. He also translated The Poetic of Space and Eye and Mind into Chinese. In recent years, Gong has also started curating exhibitions and writing art critiques, while organizing modernologic activities regarding cities and communities, including "Are We Working Too Much?" (2013) in Eslite Gallery, "The Return of Ghosts" (2014) in Hong-gah Museum, and "The Place I Want to Take You to – A Workshop on City Memories: The Past and the Present of Shui-jiao-she" (June 2015).
Artist-Samsudin Wahab
Samsudin Wahab’s art is a mixture of fantasy and reality, a unique and highly personal interpretation of truths. Usually in the form of paintings, but sometimes in sculpture or performance, Samsudin’s imagination is mixed with current affairs - drawn from his daily habit of reading newspapers - and treated in sepia and monochromatic tones true to the colouring of the artist’s own dreams. In particular, Samsudin concentrates on issues of conspiracy, social power, and governmental control over the masses. He admits he is spurred by an escapist’s love for mafia films and television series such as Prison Break, and probably also from his childhood in Semanggol, Perak, where he was first exposed to politics and where he became a Prefect Librarian in order to gain access to books. Samsudin works at a self-imposed fast pace to remain contemporary, yet he consistently achieves incredible range of content, whilst delivering his account of global political events. Curator-Nur Hanim Mohamed Khairuddin Nur Hanim Mohamed Khairuddin is an artist and independent curator based in Ipoh, Malaysia. She graduated from UiTM (Universiti Teknologi MARA) in Selangor, Malaysia with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art in 1994. Since then, she has participated in numerous exhibitions both locally and internationally, and was the recipient of several awards, the most notable of which was the Major Winner in the 1996 Young Contemporaries. From 1996 to 2010, she worked as a curator at Perak Arts Foundation, and was responsible for the organisation of the annual multi-disciplinary “Ipoh Arts Festival” held in Ipoh, Perak (1996–2000). As a freelance curator, she has curated several solo exhibitions for prominent Malaysian artists such as Sulaiman Esa, Raja Shahriman Raja Aziddin and Shia Yih-Yiing. She was also the curator for two editions of “Kembara Jiwa” show which travelled to Bandung (Selasar Sunaryo), Jogjakarta (Taman Budaya) and Fukuoka (Asian Art Museum). Nur Hanim is the Editor-in-Chief of sentAp!, a quarterly bi-language (English & Malay) publication founded in 2005. She is also the Co-Editor-in-Chief with Beverly Yong for the four-volume Narratives of Malaysian Art publication and currently is one of the directors for MARS (Malaysian Art Archive & Research Support). At present, she is involved in a few art archival projects, including the archive of the late Ismail Hashim, a well-known pioneer of Malaysian art photography.
Samsudin Wahab’s art is a mixture of fantasy and reality, a unique and highly personal interpretation of truths. Usually in the form of paintings, but sometimes in sculpture or performance, Samsudin’s imagination is mixed with current affairs - drawn from his daily habit of reading newspapers - and treated in sepia and monochromatic tones true to the colouring of the artist’s own dreams. In particular, Samsudin concentrates on issues of conspiracy, social power, and governmental control over the masses. He admits he is spurred by an escapist’s love for mafia films and television series such as Prison Break, and probably also from his childhood in Semanggol, Perak, where he was first exposed to politics and where he became a Prefect Librarian in order to gain access to books. Samsudin works at a self-imposed fast pace to remain contemporary, yet he consistently achieves incredible range of content, whilst delivering his account of global political events. Curator-Nur Hanim Mohamed Khairuddin Nur Hanim Mohamed Khairuddin is an artist and independent curator based in Ipoh, Malaysia. She graduated from UiTM (Universiti Teknologi MARA) in Selangor, Malaysia with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art in 1994. Since then, she has participated in numerous exhibitions both locally and internationally, and was the recipient of several awards, the most notable of which was the Major Winner in the 1996 Young Contemporaries. From 1996 to 2010, she worked as a curator at Perak Arts Foundation, and was responsible for the organisation of the annual multi-disciplinary “Ipoh Arts Festival” held in Ipoh, Perak (1996–2000). As a freelance curator, she has curated several solo exhibitions for prominent Malaysian artists such as Sulaiman Esa, Raja Shahriman Raja Aziddin and Shia Yih-Yiing. She was also the curator for two editions of “Kembara Jiwa” show which travelled to Bandung (Selasar Sunaryo), Jogjakarta (Taman Budaya) and Fukuoka (Asian Art Museum). Nur Hanim is the Editor-in-Chief of sentAp!, a quarterly bi-language (English & Malay) publication founded in 2005. She is also the Co-Editor-in-Chief with Beverly Yong for the four-volume Narratives of Malaysian Art publication and currently is one of the directors for MARS (Malaysian Art Archive & Research Support). At present, she is involved in a few art archival projects, including the archive of the late Ismail Hashim, a well-known pioneer of Malaysian art photography.
Artist-Samsudin Wahab
Samsudin Wahab’s art is a mixture of fantasy and reality, a unique and highly personal interpretation of truths. Usually in the form of paintings, but sometimes in sculpture or performance, Samsudin’s imagination is mixed with current affairs - drawn from his daily habit of reading newspapers - and treated in sepia and monochromatic tones true to the colouring of the artist’s own dreams. In particular, Samsudin concentrates on issues of conspiracy, social power, and governmental control over the masses. He admits he is spurred by an escapist’s love for mafia films and television series such as Prison Break, and probably also from his childhood in Semanggol, Perak, where he was first exposed to politics and where he became a Prefect Librarian in order to gain access to books. Samsudin works at a self-imposed fast pace to remain contemporary, yet he consistently achieves incredible range of content, whilst delivering his account of global political events. Curator-Nur Hanim Mohamed Khairuddin Nur Hanim Mohamed Khairuddin is an artist and independent curator based in Ipoh, Malaysia. She graduated from UiTM (Universiti Teknologi MARA) in Selangor, Malaysia with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art in 1994. Since then, she has participated in numerous exhibitions both locally and internationally, and was the recipient of several awards, the most notable of which was the Major Winner in the 1996 Young Contemporaries. From 1996 to 2010, she worked as a curator at Perak Arts Foundation, and was responsible for the organisation of the annual multi-disciplinary “Ipoh Arts Festival” held in Ipoh, Perak (1996–2000). As a freelance curator, she has curated several solo exhibitions for prominent Malaysian artists such as Sulaiman Esa, Raja Shahriman Raja Aziddin and Shia Yih-Yiing. She was also the curator for two editions of “Kembara Jiwa” show which travelled to Bandung (Selasar Sunaryo), Jogjakarta (Taman Budaya) and Fukuoka (Asian Art Museum). Nur Hanim is the Editor-in-Chief of sentAp!, a quarterly bi-language (English & Malay) publication founded in 2005. She is also the Co-Editor-in-Chief with Beverly Yong for the four-volume Narratives of Malaysian Art publication and currently is one of the directors for MARS (Malaysian Art Archive & Research Support). At present, she is involved in a few art archival projects, including the archive of the late Ismail Hashim, a well-known pioneer of Malaysian art photography.
Samsudin Wahab’s art is a mixture of fantasy and reality, a unique and highly personal interpretation of truths. Usually in the form of paintings, but sometimes in sculpture or performance, Samsudin’s imagination is mixed with current affairs - drawn from his daily habit of reading newspapers - and treated in sepia and monochromatic tones true to the colouring of the artist’s own dreams. In particular, Samsudin concentrates on issues of conspiracy, social power, and governmental control over the masses. He admits he is spurred by an escapist’s love for mafia films and television series such as Prison Break, and probably also from his childhood in Semanggol, Perak, where he was first exposed to politics and where he became a Prefect Librarian in order to gain access to books. Samsudin works at a self-imposed fast pace to remain contemporary, yet he consistently achieves incredible range of content, whilst delivering his account of global political events. Curator-Nur Hanim Mohamed Khairuddin Nur Hanim Mohamed Khairuddin is an artist and independent curator based in Ipoh, Malaysia. She graduated from UiTM (Universiti Teknologi MARA) in Selangor, Malaysia with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art in 1994. Since then, she has participated in numerous exhibitions both locally and internationally, and was the recipient of several awards, the most notable of which was the Major Winner in the 1996 Young Contemporaries. From 1996 to 2010, she worked as a curator at Perak Arts Foundation, and was responsible for the organisation of the annual multi-disciplinary “Ipoh Arts Festival” held in Ipoh, Perak (1996–2000). As a freelance curator, she has curated several solo exhibitions for prominent Malaysian artists such as Sulaiman Esa, Raja Shahriman Raja Aziddin and Shia Yih-Yiing. She was also the curator for two editions of “Kembara Jiwa” show which travelled to Bandung (Selasar Sunaryo), Jogjakarta (Taman Budaya) and Fukuoka (Asian Art Museum). Nur Hanim is the Editor-in-Chief of sentAp!, a quarterly bi-language (English & Malay) publication founded in 2005. She is also the Co-Editor-in-Chief with Beverly Yong for the four-volume Narratives of Malaysian Art publication and currently is one of the directors for MARS (Malaysian Art Archive & Research Support). At present, she is involved in a few art archival projects, including the archive of the late Ismail Hashim, a well-known pioneer of Malaysian art photography.
Artist-Tromarama
Tromarama is an artist collective founded by Febie Babyrose, Herbert Hans and Ruddy Hatumena in 2006. They live and works in Bandung, Indonesia. They studied in Institute Technology of Bandung in early 2000’s. At first,the collective started working together by experimenting with stop motion animation for a music video. Since then they’ve been working together as a collective and most of their work are video animation. They’ve been fascinated by the illusion that emerges from a cross-over between the real life and the virtual. Tromarama has had solo exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2015), National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2015) and Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2010). Their work has been featured in group exhibitions including the”Animasivo Animation Festival”, Mexico City (2013); “7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art”, Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane (2012); “3rd Asian Art Biennial”, Taiwan (2011); Center for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv (2010); Kunsthalle Wien (2010); Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art (2009); and the “Singapore Biennale” (2008). Curator-Asikin Hasan Born in Jambi. From 1985-1991 studied and graduated as a Bachelor at Sculpture Art Studio, Faculty of Art and Design, Bandung Institute of Technology. Conducted research for Indonesian New Art Movement and their artworks (1990s). Interested in Public Spaces and presented a final task at Bandung Institute of Technology entitled “City Squares as Public Spaces in Java” (1991). In 1996 became a curator of Lontar Gallery, Jakarta. In the same year, under the sponsor of the Japan Foundation Jakarta, joined a short course for curator in several art galleries and museums in Tokyo, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Kyoto. Curator of “Contemporary Sculpture Triennale,” Jakarta Art Council (1997). Invited as an observer at ARS 1 KIASMA, Helsinki (2001), curator of TRANSIT, a New Media Art Exhibition in Townsville, Brisbane, Darwin-Australia. Curator for “Retrospective Exhibition of Sculpture Art” by Rita Wizemann-Widagdo at the National Gallery of Indonesia (2005). Curator of “Biennale 11 Contemporary Art,” Jakarta Art Council (2007). Since 2008 until present, curator at Salihara, Jakarta. In 2013, together with Rizki A. Zaelani became the curator of international traveling exhibition projects by the National Gallery of Indonesia entitled “Enchanted Shadow” in Washington DC (USA) and “Masters of Modern Indonesian Portraiture,” National Portrait Gallery, Canberra (2014). Curator for ROOTS, an Exhibition Indonesian young artists at Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany (2015). The exhibition is part of Frankfurt Book Fair event where Indonesia became guest of honour.
Tromarama is an artist collective founded by Febie Babyrose, Herbert Hans and Ruddy Hatumena in 2006. They live and works in Bandung, Indonesia. They studied in Institute Technology of Bandung in early 2000’s. At first,the collective started working together by experimenting with stop motion animation for a music video. Since then they’ve been working together as a collective and most of their work are video animation. They’ve been fascinated by the illusion that emerges from a cross-over between the real life and the virtual. Tromarama has had solo exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2015), National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2015) and Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2010). Their work has been featured in group exhibitions including the”Animasivo Animation Festival”, Mexico City (2013); “7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art”, Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane (2012); “3rd Asian Art Biennial”, Taiwan (2011); Center for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv (2010); Kunsthalle Wien (2010); Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art (2009); and the “Singapore Biennale” (2008). Curator-Asikin Hasan Born in Jambi. From 1985-1991 studied and graduated as a Bachelor at Sculpture Art Studio, Faculty of Art and Design, Bandung Institute of Technology. Conducted research for Indonesian New Art Movement and their artworks (1990s). Interested in Public Spaces and presented a final task at Bandung Institute of Technology entitled “City Squares as Public Spaces in Java” (1991). In 1996 became a curator of Lontar Gallery, Jakarta. In the same year, under the sponsor of the Japan Foundation Jakarta, joined a short course for curator in several art galleries and museums in Tokyo, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Kyoto. Curator of “Contemporary Sculpture Triennale,” Jakarta Art Council (1997). Invited as an observer at ARS 1 KIASMA, Helsinki (2001), curator of TRANSIT, a New Media Art Exhibition in Townsville, Brisbane, Darwin-Australia. Curator for “Retrospective Exhibition of Sculpture Art” by Rita Wizemann-Widagdo at the National Gallery of Indonesia (2005). Curator of “Biennale 11 Contemporary Art,” Jakarta Art Council (2007). Since 2008 until present, curator at Salihara, Jakarta. In 2013, together with Rizki A. Zaelani became the curator of international traveling exhibition projects by the National Gallery of Indonesia entitled “Enchanted Shadow” in Washington DC (USA) and “Masters of Modern Indonesian Portraiture,” National Portrait Gallery, Canberra (2014). Curator for ROOTS, an Exhibition Indonesian young artists at Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany (2015). The exhibition is part of Frankfurt Book Fair event where Indonesia became guest of honour.
Artist-Tromarama
Tromarama is an artist collective founded by Febie Babyrose, Herbert Hans and Ruddy Hatumena in 2006. They live and works in Bandung, Indonesia. They studied in Institute Technology of Bandung in early 2000’s. At first,the collective started working together by experimenting with stop motion animation for a music video. Since then they’ve been working together as a collective and most of their work are video animation. They’ve been fascinated by the illusion that emerges from a cross-over between the real life and the virtual. Tromarama has had solo exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2015), National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2015) and Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2010). Their work has been featured in group exhibitions including the”Animasivo Animation Festival”, Mexico City (2013); “7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art”, Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane (2012); “3rd Asian Art Biennial”, Taiwan (2011); Center for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv (2010); Kunsthalle Wien (2010); Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art (2009); and the “Singapore Biennale” (2008). Curator-Asikin Hasan Born in Jambi. From 1985-1991 studied and graduated as a Bachelor at Sculpture Art Studio, Faculty of Art and Design, Bandung Institute of Technology. Conducted research for Indonesian New Art Movement and their artworks (1990s). Interested in Public Spaces and presented a final task at Bandung Institute of Technology entitled “City Squares as Public Spaces in Java” (1991). In 1996 became a curator of Lontar Gallery, Jakarta. In the same year, under the sponsor of the Japan Foundation Jakarta, joined a short course for curator in several art galleries and museums in Tokyo, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Kyoto. Curator of “Contemporary Sculpture Triennale,” Jakarta Art Council (1997). Invited as an observer at ARS 1 KIASMA, Helsinki (2001), curator of TRANSIT, a New Media Art Exhibition in Townsville, Brisbane, Darwin-Australia. Curator for “Retrospective Exhibition of Sculpture Art” by Rita Wizemann-Widagdo at the National Gallery of Indonesia (2005). Curator of “Biennale 11 Contemporary Art,” Jakarta Art Council (2007). Since 2008 until present, curator at Salihara, Jakarta. In 2013, together with Rizki A. Zaelani became the curator of international traveling exhibition projects by the National Gallery of Indonesia entitled “Enchanted Shadow” in Washington DC (USA) and “Masters of Modern Indonesian Portraiture,” National Portrait Gallery, Canberra (2014). Curator for ROOTS, an Exhibition Indonesian young artists at Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany (2015). The exhibition is part of Frankfurt Book Fair event where Indonesia became guest of honour.
Tromarama is an artist collective founded by Febie Babyrose, Herbert Hans and Ruddy Hatumena in 2006. They live and works in Bandung, Indonesia. They studied in Institute Technology of Bandung in early 2000’s. At first,the collective started working together by experimenting with stop motion animation for a music video. Since then they’ve been working together as a collective and most of their work are video animation. They’ve been fascinated by the illusion that emerges from a cross-over between the real life and the virtual. Tromarama has had solo exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2015), National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2015) and Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2010). Their work has been featured in group exhibitions including the”Animasivo Animation Festival”, Mexico City (2013); “7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art”, Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane (2012); “3rd Asian Art Biennial”, Taiwan (2011); Center for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv (2010); Kunsthalle Wien (2010); Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art (2009); and the “Singapore Biennale” (2008). Curator-Asikin Hasan Born in Jambi. From 1985-1991 studied and graduated as a Bachelor at Sculpture Art Studio, Faculty of Art and Design, Bandung Institute of Technology. Conducted research for Indonesian New Art Movement and their artworks (1990s). Interested in Public Spaces and presented a final task at Bandung Institute of Technology entitled “City Squares as Public Spaces in Java” (1991). In 1996 became a curator of Lontar Gallery, Jakarta. In the same year, under the sponsor of the Japan Foundation Jakarta, joined a short course for curator in several art galleries and museums in Tokyo, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Kyoto. Curator of “Contemporary Sculpture Triennale,” Jakarta Art Council (1997). Invited as an observer at ARS 1 KIASMA, Helsinki (2001), curator of TRANSIT, a New Media Art Exhibition in Townsville, Brisbane, Darwin-Australia. Curator for “Retrospective Exhibition of Sculpture Art” by Rita Wizemann-Widagdo at the National Gallery of Indonesia (2005). Curator of “Biennale 11 Contemporary Art,” Jakarta Art Council (2007). Since 2008 until present, curator at Salihara, Jakarta. In 2013, together with Rizki A. Zaelani became the curator of international traveling exhibition projects by the National Gallery of Indonesia entitled “Enchanted Shadow” in Washington DC (USA) and “Masters of Modern Indonesian Portraiture,” National Portrait Gallery, Canberra (2014). Curator for ROOTS, an Exhibition Indonesian young artists at Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany (2015). The exhibition is part of Frankfurt Book Fair event where Indonesia became guest of honour.
Artist-Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran
Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran is a contemporary artist who lives and works in Sydney, Australia. He was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1988. His sculptural/installation practice, although primarily based in ceramics, involves a diverse range of media and references. His work is underpinned by the notion of the phallus as a signifier to social and political power. Phallic forms in the context of his figurative sculptures are a constant motif, charged with layers of meaning. He has exhibited at various spaces and contexts including the Art Gallery of South Australia's flagship exhibition, the 2016 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art. He has also exhibited at the National Gallery of Australia, the Shepparton Art Museum, The Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Galleries, Artspace (Sydney) and Canberra Contemporary Art Space. In 2014, he was awarded the 2014 NSW Visual Arts Fellowship (emerging) administered through Artspace and Arts NSW. In 2015, he was the winner of the 2015 Sidney Myer Fund Australian Ceramic Award, Australia’s richest and premier award for artists working in the medium of ceramics. His work has featured widely in various publications. Forthcoming exhibitions include a solo contemporary project at the Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne. Nithiyendran’s work is held in various collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of South Australia, Artbank and the Shepparton Art Museum. He is represented by Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney. Curator-Glenn Barkley Glenn Barkley is a Sydney-based independent curator. He was previously senior curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (2008–14) and curator of the University of Wollongong Art Collection (1996–2007). Major curatorial projects include Almanac: The Gift of Ann Lewis AO, MCA (2009–10), Making it New: Focus on Contemporary Australian Art, MCA (2009), Home Sweet Home: Works from the Peter Fay Collection (co-curated with Dr. Deborah Hart), National Gallery of Australia (2003–04, and toured), Without Borders: Outsider Art in an Antipodean Context (co-curated with Peter Fay), Monash University and Campbelltown Art Centre, Sydney (2008). In 2011 he curated “Tell me tell me: Australian and Korean Contemporary Art 1976–2011,” an exchange exhibition between the MCA and the NMOCA, Seoul, Korea. In 2012 he curated “Volume One: MCA Collection,” for the museum's new collection galleries, and co-curated with Lesley Harding the exhibition “Ken Whisson: As if.” In 2013 he curated “South of No North: Laurence Aberhart, William Eggleston and Noel McKenna” and “String Theory” a survey of Australian Indigenous textile arts. Recent projects include in 2015 co-curating with Lesley Harding a major retrospective of Australian artist Aleks Danko at the MCA Australia. In 2016 he was the curator of the “Australian Ceramics Biennial overundersidewaysdown.” Barkley has written extensively on Australian art and culture for magazines such as Art Monthly, Artist Profile and Art and Australia. He is co-founder and co-Director of The Curators’ Department an independent curatorial agency based in Sydney, Australia.
Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran is a contemporary artist who lives and works in Sydney, Australia. He was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1988. His sculptural/installation practice, although primarily based in ceramics, involves a diverse range of media and references. His work is underpinned by the notion of the phallus as a signifier to social and political power. Phallic forms in the context of his figurative sculptures are a constant motif, charged with layers of meaning. He has exhibited at various spaces and contexts including the Art Gallery of South Australia's flagship exhibition, the 2016 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art. He has also exhibited at the National Gallery of Australia, the Shepparton Art Museum, The Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Galleries, Artspace (Sydney) and Canberra Contemporary Art Space. In 2014, he was awarded the 2014 NSW Visual Arts Fellowship (emerging) administered through Artspace and Arts NSW. In 2015, he was the winner of the 2015 Sidney Myer Fund Australian Ceramic Award, Australia’s richest and premier award for artists working in the medium of ceramics. His work has featured widely in various publications. Forthcoming exhibitions include a solo contemporary project at the Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne. Nithiyendran’s work is held in various collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of South Australia, Artbank and the Shepparton Art Museum. He is represented by Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney. Curator-Glenn Barkley Glenn Barkley is a Sydney-based independent curator. He was previously senior curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (2008–14) and curator of the University of Wollongong Art Collection (1996–2007). Major curatorial projects include Almanac: The Gift of Ann Lewis AO, MCA (2009–10), Making it New: Focus on Contemporary Australian Art, MCA (2009), Home Sweet Home: Works from the Peter Fay Collection (co-curated with Dr. Deborah Hart), National Gallery of Australia (2003–04, and toured), Without Borders: Outsider Art in an Antipodean Context (co-curated with Peter Fay), Monash University and Campbelltown Art Centre, Sydney (2008). In 2011 he curated “Tell me tell me: Australian and Korean Contemporary Art 1976–2011,” an exchange exhibition between the MCA and the NMOCA, Seoul, Korea. In 2012 he curated “Volume One: MCA Collection,” for the museum's new collection galleries, and co-curated with Lesley Harding the exhibition “Ken Whisson: As if.” In 2013 he curated “South of No North: Laurence Aberhart, William Eggleston and Noel McKenna” and “String Theory” a survey of Australian Indigenous textile arts. Recent projects include in 2015 co-curating with Lesley Harding a major retrospective of Australian artist Aleks Danko at the MCA Australia. In 2016 he was the curator of the “Australian Ceramics Biennial overundersidewaysdown.” Barkley has written extensively on Australian art and culture for magazines such as Art Monthly, Artist Profile and Art and Australia. He is co-founder and co-Director of The Curators’ Department an independent curatorial agency based in Sydney, Australia.
Artist-Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran
Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran is a contemporary artist who lives and works in Sydney, Australia. He was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1988. His sculptural/installation practice, although primarily based in ceramics, involves a diverse range of media and references. His work is underpinned by the notion of the phallus as a signifier to social and political power. Phallic forms in the context of his figurative sculptures are a constant motif, charged with layers of meaning. He has exhibited at various spaces and contexts including the Art Gallery of South Australia's flagship exhibition, the 2016 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art. He has also exhibited at the National Gallery of Australia, the Shepparton Art Museum, The Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Galleries, Artspace (Sydney) and Canberra Contemporary Art Space. In 2014, he was awarded the 2014 NSW Visual Arts Fellowship (emerging) administered through Artspace and Arts NSW. In 2015, he was the winner of the 2015 Sidney Myer Fund Australian Ceramic Award, Australia’s richest and premier award for artists working in the medium of ceramics. His work has featured widely in various publications. Forthcoming exhibitions include a solo contemporary project at the Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne. Nithiyendran’s work is held in various collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of South Australia, Artbank and the Shepparton Art Museum. He is represented by Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney. Curator-Glenn Barkley Glenn Barkley is a Sydney-based independent curator. He was previously senior curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (2008–14) and curator of the University of Wollongong Art Collection (1996–2007). Major curatorial projects include Almanac: The Gift of Ann Lewis AO, MCA (2009–10), Making it New: Focus on Contemporary Australian Art, MCA (2009), Home Sweet Home: Works from the Peter Fay Collection (co-curated with Dr. Deborah Hart), National Gallery of Australia (2003–04, and toured), Without Borders: Outsider Art in an Antipodean Context (co-curated with Peter Fay), Monash University and Campbelltown Art Centre, Sydney (2008). In 2011 he curated “Tell me tell me: Australian and Korean Contemporary Art 1976–2011,” an exchange exhibition between the MCA and the NMOCA, Seoul, Korea. In 2012 he curated “Volume One: MCA Collection,” for the museum's new collection galleries, and co-curated with Lesley Harding the exhibition “Ken Whisson: As if.” In 2013 he curated “South of No North: Laurence Aberhart, William Eggleston and Noel McKenna” and “String Theory” a survey of Australian Indigenous textile arts. Recent projects include in 2015 co-curating with Lesley Harding a major retrospective of Australian artist Aleks Danko at the MCA Australia. In 2016 he was the curator of the “Australian Ceramics Biennial overundersidewaysdown.” Barkley has written extensively on Australian art and culture for magazines such as Art Monthly, Artist Profile and Art and Australia. He is co-founder and co-Director of The Curators’ Department an independent curatorial agency based in Sydney, Australia.
Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran is a contemporary artist who lives and works in Sydney, Australia. He was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1988. His sculptural/installation practice, although primarily based in ceramics, involves a diverse range of media and references. His work is underpinned by the notion of the phallus as a signifier to social and political power. Phallic forms in the context of his figurative sculptures are a constant motif, charged with layers of meaning. He has exhibited at various spaces and contexts including the Art Gallery of South Australia's flagship exhibition, the 2016 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art. He has also exhibited at the National Gallery of Australia, the Shepparton Art Museum, The Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Galleries, Artspace (Sydney) and Canberra Contemporary Art Space. In 2014, he was awarded the 2014 NSW Visual Arts Fellowship (emerging) administered through Artspace and Arts NSW. In 2015, he was the winner of the 2015 Sidney Myer Fund Australian Ceramic Award, Australia’s richest and premier award for artists working in the medium of ceramics. His work has featured widely in various publications. Forthcoming exhibitions include a solo contemporary project at the Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne. Nithiyendran’s work is held in various collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of South Australia, Artbank and the Shepparton Art Museum. He is represented by Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney. Curator-Glenn Barkley Glenn Barkley is a Sydney-based independent curator. He was previously senior curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (2008–14) and curator of the University of Wollongong Art Collection (1996–2007). Major curatorial projects include Almanac: The Gift of Ann Lewis AO, MCA (2009–10), Making it New: Focus on Contemporary Australian Art, MCA (2009), Home Sweet Home: Works from the Peter Fay Collection (co-curated with Dr. Deborah Hart), National Gallery of Australia (2003–04, and toured), Without Borders: Outsider Art in an Antipodean Context (co-curated with Peter Fay), Monash University and Campbelltown Art Centre, Sydney (2008). In 2011 he curated “Tell me tell me: Australian and Korean Contemporary Art 1976–2011,” an exchange exhibition between the MCA and the NMOCA, Seoul, Korea. In 2012 he curated “Volume One: MCA Collection,” for the museum's new collection galleries, and co-curated with Lesley Harding the exhibition “Ken Whisson: As if.” In 2013 he curated “South of No North: Laurence Aberhart, William Eggleston and Noel McKenna” and “String Theory” a survey of Australian Indigenous textile arts. Recent projects include in 2015 co-curating with Lesley Harding a major retrospective of Australian artist Aleks Danko at the MCA Australia. In 2016 he was the curator of the “Australian Ceramics Biennial overundersidewaysdown.” Barkley has written extensively on Australian art and culture for magazines such as Art Monthly, Artist Profile and Art and Australia. He is co-founder and co-Director of The Curators’ Department an independent curatorial agency based in Sydney, Australia.
Artist-Nguyen Phuong Linh Nguyen Phuong Linh’s multidisciplinary practice spans installation, sculpture and video. Her work conveys the sense of alienation, dislocation and ephemerality of human life. Linh concerns about geographic cultural shift, traditional roots and fragmented history in Vietnam – a complex nexus of ethnicities, religions, and cultural and geo-political influences. Nguyen Phuong Linh often travels, field researches and collects artifacts from historical sites of exchange and borders. She transforms these materials in order to construct alternative perspectives and interpretations to fragmented histories and personal narratives. Nguyen Phuong Linh was born and nurtured by living and working with many of the most respected contemporary artists of the Vietnam art scene at Nha San – the first non-profit artist run art space for experimental art based in her father’s home in Hanoi. After Nha San was closed down due to authority in 2011, Linh co-found and co-directed Nha San Collective, a group of young artists who dedicate to push boundaries and ideas about exploring the here and now in Vietnam. Curator-Nguyen Nhu Huy Nguyen Nhu Huy is a visual artist (video artist), independent curator, art critic, translator, poet and song writer who bases in Hochiminh city, Vietnam. Nhu Huy could be considered the first Vietnamese artists-intellectual who has tried to introduce the contemporary art to Vietnam social space as an interdisciplinary complex of social, cultural and political knowledge production but not only the purely formalist practical devices. On the other hand, with his role as founder and co-artistic director at ZeroStation, an alternative space based in Hochiminh city, Nhu Huy and his team have also tried to open / experiment the new possibilities for the contemporary art to escape from the old Western internally aesthetics and radicalist relationships to be contextualized into local concerns in the form of the devices to make dialogues between art and life, everyday life and experimental, local and international. Huy was co-curator for “Singapore Biennale 2013” and since 2013 Huy has been being a curatorially advisory part for long-term project “Koganecho Bazaar”, Yokohama, Japan. Nhu Huy is guest curator for “Brand New Project 2015”, an annual project initiated by Bangkok Creative University that aims to introduce potential young Thai artists to Thailand contemporary art scene.
Artist-Nguyen Phuong Linh Nguyen Phuong Linh’s multidisciplinary practice spans installation, sculpture and video. Her work conveys the sense of alienation, dislocation and ephemerality of human life. Linh concerns about geographic cultural shift, traditional roots and fragmented history in Vietnam – a complex nexus of ethnicities, religions, and cultural and geo-political influences. Nguyen Phuong Linh often travels, field researches and collects artifacts from historical sites of exchange and borders. She transforms these materials in order to construct alternative perspectives and interpretations to fragmented histories and personal narratives. Nguyen Phuong Linh was born and nurtured by living and working with many of the most respected contemporary artists of the Vietnam art scene at Nha San – the first non-profit artist run art space for experimental art based in her father’s home in Hanoi. After Nha San was closed down due to authority in 2011, Linh co-found and co-directed Nha San Collective, a group of young artists who dedicate to push boundaries and ideas about exploring the here and now in Vietnam. Curator-Nguyen Nhu Huy Nguyen Nhu Huy is a visual artist (video artist), independent curator, art critic, translator, poet and song writer who bases in Hochiminh city, Vietnam. Nhu Huy could be considered the first Vietnamese artists-intellectual who has tried to introduce the contemporary art to Vietnam social space as an interdisciplinary complex of social, cultural and political knowledge production but not only the purely formalist practical devices. On the other hand, with his role as founder and co-artistic director at ZeroStation, an alternative space based in Hochiminh city, Nhu Huy and his team have also tried to open / experiment the new possibilities for the contemporary art to escape from the old Western internally aesthetics and radicalist relationships to be contextualized into local concerns in the form of the devices to make dialogues between art and life, everyday life and experimental, local and international. Huy was co-curator for “Singapore Biennale 2013” and since 2013 Huy has been being a curatorially advisory part for long-term project “Koganecho Bazaar”, Yokohama, Japan. Nhu Huy is guest curator for “Brand New Project 2015”, an annual project initiated by Bangkok Creative University that aims to introduce potential young Thai artists to Thailand contemporary art scene.
Artist-Lim Tzay-Chuen
Lim Tzay-Chuen was born in Singapore in 1972. He graduated with a B.F.A. from the Royal Melbourne Institute Of Technology in 1997, and returned to Singapore to practice for ten years. In 2007, he moved to Beijing, where he currently lives and works. He has exhibited in group shows such as: "Polyposis”, at the Kunsthaus, Hamburg (2001); “Pause - Gwangju Biennale” (2002); “Reason & Emotion, Biennale of Sydney” (2004); “Belief - Singapore Biennale” (2006); “Tomorrow”, at the Artsonje Centre, Seoul (2007); “Stray Alchemists”, at the UCCA, Beijing (2008); “Just Around the Corner”, at the Arrow Factory, Beijing (2009); and “Trickster Makes This World”, at the Nam June Paik Art Center, Seoul (2010). His solo exhibitions include: “Alter #7”, at The Substation, Singapore (2001); “MIKE”, at the Singapore Pavilion, 51st Venice Biennale (2005); “A Work”, at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Singapore (2005); and “Lin Zai-Chun", at the Canton Gallery, Guangzhou (2016). Curator-Lee Weng-Choy Lee Weng-Choy is president of the Singapore Section of the International Association of Art Critics, and is also a consultant with National Gallery Singapore. From 2000 to 2009, he was the Artistic Co-Director of The Substation arts centre in Singapore. Lee has taught at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Singapore, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, on topics from art theory to cultural policy. He has convened and participated in numerous conferences, and done project work with many arts organizations, including the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore. His essays, which discuss contemporary art and culture, Southeast Asia and Singapore, have appeared in such publications as: Afterall; After the Event: New Perspectives on Art History (Manchester); Art & Intimate Publics: Art in the Asia-Pacific (Routledge); Broadsheet; Contemporary Art in Asia (MIT); Forum On Contemporary Art & Society; Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Art (Cornell); Over Here: International Perspectives on Art and Culture (MIT); Theory in Contemporary Art since 1985 (Blackwell) and Third Text.
Lim Tzay-Chuen was born in Singapore in 1972. He graduated with a B.F.A. from the Royal Melbourne Institute Of Technology in 1997, and returned to Singapore to practice for ten years. In 2007, he moved to Beijing, where he currently lives and works. He has exhibited in group shows such as: "Polyposis”, at the Kunsthaus, Hamburg (2001); “Pause - Gwangju Biennale” (2002); “Reason & Emotion, Biennale of Sydney” (2004); “Belief - Singapore Biennale” (2006); “Tomorrow”, at the Artsonje Centre, Seoul (2007); “Stray Alchemists”, at the UCCA, Beijing (2008); “Just Around the Corner”, at the Arrow Factory, Beijing (2009); and “Trickster Makes This World”, at the Nam June Paik Art Center, Seoul (2010). His solo exhibitions include: “Alter #7”, at The Substation, Singapore (2001); “MIKE”, at the Singapore Pavilion, 51st Venice Biennale (2005); “A Work”, at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Singapore (2005); and “Lin Zai-Chun", at the Canton Gallery, Guangzhou (2016). Curator-Lee Weng-Choy Lee Weng-Choy is president of the Singapore Section of the International Association of Art Critics, and is also a consultant with National Gallery Singapore. From 2000 to 2009, he was the Artistic Co-Director of The Substation arts centre in Singapore. Lee has taught at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Singapore, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, on topics from art theory to cultural policy. He has convened and participated in numerous conferences, and done project work with many arts organizations, including the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore. His essays, which discuss contemporary art and culture, Southeast Asia and Singapore, have appeared in such publications as: Afterall; After the Event: New Perspectives on Art History (Manchester); Art & Intimate Publics: Art in the Asia-Pacific (Routledge); Broadsheet; Contemporary Art in Asia (MIT); Forum On Contemporary Art & Society; Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Art (Cornell); Over Here: International Perspectives on Art and Culture (MIT); Theory in Contemporary Art since 1985 (Blackwell) and Third Text.
Artist-Lim Tzay-Chuen
Lim Tzay-Chuen was born in Singapore in 1972. He graduated with a B.F.A. from the Royal Melbourne Institute Of Technology in 1997, and returned to Singapore to practice for ten years. In 2007, he moved to Beijing, where he currently lives and works. He has exhibited in group shows such as: "Polyposis”, at the Kunsthaus, Hamburg (2001); “Pause - Gwangju Biennale” (2002); “Reason & Emotion, Biennale of Sydney” (2004); “Belief - Singapore Biennale” (2006); “Tomorrow”, at the Artsonje Centre, Seoul (2007); “Stray Alchemists”, at the UCCA, Beijing (2008); “Just Around the Corner”, at the Arrow Factory, Beijing (2009); and “Trickster Makes This World”, at the Nam June Paik Art Center, Seoul (2010). His solo exhibitions include: “Alter #7”, at The Substation, Singapore (2001); “MIKE”, at the Singapore Pavilion, 51st Venice Biennale (2005); “A Work”, at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Singapore (2005); and “Lin Zai-Chun", at the Canton Gallery, Guangzhou (2016). Curator-Lee Weng-Choy Lee Weng-Choy is president of the Singapore Section of the International Association of Art Critics, and is also a consultant with National Gallery Singapore. From 2000 to 2009, he was the Artistic Co-Director of The Substation arts centre in Singapore. Lee has taught at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Singapore, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, on topics from art theory to cultural policy. He has convened and participated in numerous conferences, and done project work with many arts organizations, including the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore. His essays, which discuss contemporary art and culture, Southeast Asia and Singapore, have appeared in such publications as: Afterall; After the Event: New Perspectives on Art History (Manchester); Art & Intimate Publics: Art in the Asia-Pacific (Routledge); Broadsheet; Contemporary Art in Asia (MIT); Forum On Contemporary Art & Society; Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Art (Cornell); Over Here: International Perspectives on Art and Culture (MIT); Theory in Contemporary Art since 1985 (Blackwell) and Third Text.
Lim Tzay-Chuen was born in Singapore in 1972. He graduated with a B.F.A. from the Royal Melbourne Institute Of Technology in 1997, and returned to Singapore to practice for ten years. In 2007, he moved to Beijing, where he currently lives and works. He has exhibited in group shows such as: "Polyposis”, at the Kunsthaus, Hamburg (2001); “Pause - Gwangju Biennale” (2002); “Reason & Emotion, Biennale of Sydney” (2004); “Belief - Singapore Biennale” (2006); “Tomorrow”, at the Artsonje Centre, Seoul (2007); “Stray Alchemists”, at the UCCA, Beijing (2008); “Just Around the Corner”, at the Arrow Factory, Beijing (2009); and “Trickster Makes This World”, at the Nam June Paik Art Center, Seoul (2010). His solo exhibitions include: “Alter #7”, at The Substation, Singapore (2001); “MIKE”, at the Singapore Pavilion, 51st Venice Biennale (2005); “A Work”, at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Singapore (2005); and “Lin Zai-Chun", at the Canton Gallery, Guangzhou (2016). Curator-Lee Weng-Choy Lee Weng-Choy is president of the Singapore Section of the International Association of Art Critics, and is also a consultant with National Gallery Singapore. From 2000 to 2009, he was the Artistic Co-Director of The Substation arts centre in Singapore. Lee has taught at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Singapore, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, on topics from art theory to cultural policy. He has convened and participated in numerous conferences, and done project work with many arts organizations, including the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore. His essays, which discuss contemporary art and culture, Southeast Asia and Singapore, have appeared in such publications as: Afterall; After the Event: New Perspectives on Art History (Manchester); Art & Intimate Publics: Art in the Asia-Pacific (Routledge); Broadsheet; Contemporary Art in Asia (MIT); Forum On Contemporary Art & Society; Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Art (Cornell); Over Here: International Perspectives on Art and Culture (MIT); Theory in Contemporary Art since 1985 (Blackwell) and Third Text.
Artist-Tsubaki Noboru Tsubaki Noboru graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Kyoto City University of the Arts. He exhibited his sculpture Fresh gasoline at “Against nature”, a group exhibition of young Japanese artists which took place at various major museums in US. His idea directly became the exhibition’s title, and influenced Japanese contemporary art scenes later on. In 1993 he participated in the Venice Biennale. In 2001 he exhibited Insect World – grasshopper, a giant inflatable grasshopper, at Yokohama Triennale. Tsubaki also held solo exhibitions at Art Tower Mito(2003), The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (2009) and Kirishima Open-air Museum, Kagoshima(2012). He consistently uses balloons as materials to make huge humorous toys that suggest cautions to the critical circumstances of contemporary societies. As for regional revitalization, he has directed “Sakate + Hishio Project” in 2013 and “Shodoshima Future Project” in 2016 as part of the Setouchi Triennial, which brought a positive economic impact. Engaging in art education over the years at the Fine and Applied Arts Department of Kyoto University of Art and Design, where he currently serves as a professor, he has transformed graduation exhibitions to art fairs, and founded the "ARTOTHÈQUE" project to promote domestic art market. He positions art as an innovative tool to establish sustainable societies. Curator-Mogi Kenichiro Mogi Kenichiro, also known as “Ken Mogi", Ph.D., was born in Tokyo, in 1962. He got his Ph.D. in Physics at University of Tokyo in 1992. His mission is to solve the so-called mind-brain problem, specifically, to understand how consciousness full of qualia arises from the billions of firing neurons in the brain. Ken's research is based in Sony Computer Science Laboratory, Tokyo. Ken also teaches at Keio, Waseda, and Tokyo University. He has been visiting professor at numerous academic institutions. Ken is widely known in Japan for his public understanding of science activities, as well as for his critical essays on things from the arts to ways of life. Ken has received two prestigious literary prizes for his books. Ken has been the conceptor for the Qualia Movement of Sony Corporation. Ken has published more than 50 books in Japanese, including a popular trilogy on the brain selling more than a million copies. Ken makes appearances on Japanese television. Ken's favorites are Richard Wagner operas, Yasujiro Ozu films, British Comedy (such as Little Britain, Fawlty Towers, The Office and Father Ted), fine arts (especially the provocative ones) among other things. Ken researched in Cambridge, U.K. for two years as a postdoc.
Artist-Tsubaki Noboru Tsubaki Noboru graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Kyoto City University of the Arts. He exhibited his sculpture Fresh gasoline at “Against nature”, a group exhibition of young Japanese artists which took place at various major museums in US. His idea directly became the exhibition’s title, and influenced Japanese contemporary art scenes later on. In 1993 he participated in the Venice Biennale. In 2001 he exhibited Insect World – grasshopper, a giant inflatable grasshopper, at Yokohama Triennale. Tsubaki also held solo exhibitions at Art Tower Mito(2003), The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (2009) and Kirishima Open-air Museum, Kagoshima(2012). He consistently uses balloons as materials to make huge humorous toys that suggest cautions to the critical circumstances of contemporary societies. As for regional revitalization, he has directed “Sakate + Hishio Project” in 2013 and “Shodoshima Future Project” in 2016 as part of the Setouchi Triennial, which brought a positive economic impact. Engaging in art education over the years at the Fine and Applied Arts Department of Kyoto University of Art and Design, where he currently serves as a professor, he has transformed graduation exhibitions to art fairs, and founded the "ARTOTHÈQUE" project to promote domestic art market. He positions art as an innovative tool to establish sustainable societies. Curator-Mogi Kenichiro Mogi Kenichiro, also known as “Ken Mogi", Ph.D., was born in Tokyo, in 1962. He got his Ph.D. in Physics at University of Tokyo in 1992. His mission is to solve the so-called mind-brain problem, specifically, to understand how consciousness full of qualia arises from the billions of firing neurons in the brain. Ken's research is based in Sony Computer Science Laboratory, Tokyo. Ken also teaches at Keio, Waseda, and Tokyo University. He has been visiting professor at numerous academic institutions. Ken is widely known in Japan for his public understanding of science activities, as well as for his critical essays on things from the arts to ways of life. Ken has received two prestigious literary prizes for his books. Ken has been the conceptor for the Qualia Movement of Sony Corporation. Ken has published more than 50 books in Japanese, including a popular trilogy on the brain selling more than a million copies. Ken makes appearances on Japanese television. Ken's favorites are Richard Wagner operas, Yasujiro Ozu films, British Comedy (such as Little Britain, Fawlty Towers, The Office and Father Ted), fine arts (especially the provocative ones) among other things. Ken researched in Cambridge, U.K. for two years as a postdoc.
Artist-Ahn Kyu-Chul Born in Seoul in 1955, Ahn Kyu-Chul studied sculpture at Seoul National University, College of Fine Arts. After graduating in 1977, he joined The Quarterly Art, where he worked as an editor for seven years. In 1985, he took part in the Reality and Utterance movement and presented miniature works to the public that went against the dominant trend of the times. Two years later, at the age of 33, he traveled to Paris to study art, and the following year moved to Germany, where he studied at Staatliche Akademie der Bildende Künste Stuttgart. While a student there, he took his first steps toward becoming a full-time artist by holding his first solo exhibition at Space Saemteo (Seoul) in 1992. After returning to Korea in 1995, he held 10 solo exhibitions over the next 19 years, including “In Between Objects”, “Trivialities”, “Forty-nine Rooms”, “Drawn to the Rainbow”, “All And But Nothing”, “Invisible Land of Love”(MMCA) and also took part in numerous special exhibitions and biennales in Korea and overseas as he exposed a different side to life, one hidden in everyday objects and spaces. Ahn started writing when he was working as a journalist, and this formed an important turning point in his approach to art. From that point on, he became a prolific author and published several books, including Museum without Paintings, The Man’s Suitcase, 43 Tables, Nine Goldfish and Water in the Distance. As many have commented, Ahn’s writing often reveals a truth that cannot be captured in art. Since 1997, he has been teaching at Korea National University of Arts, School of Visual Arts. Curator-Lee Dae-Hyung Lee Dae-Hyung, art critic, curator, and the acclaimed POWER LEADER 2012 by Forbes Korea, is the founding curator of curating company Hzone, Korean Eye and Korea Tomorrow. He has been curating contemporary Asian art for the last 14 years. From Seoul to Beijing, to New York and London, Dae-Hyung has worked with Lee Yong-Baek( “Venice Biennale 2011 Korean Pavilion”) , Debbie Han( “Korean Eye”, 2009), Suh Do-Ho, Zhang Xiao-Gang, Zeng Fan-Zhi, Yue Min-Jun, Fang Li-Jun, Miao Xiao-Chun, Zhang Peng and many more. “Korean Eye Moon Generation” at Saatchi Gallery in 2009 attracted approximately 250,000 viewers in London. Thanks to this success, “Korean Eye” became an annual brand and continued its nomadic show until 2012 at Saatchi Gallery in London. He has also organized the annual exhibition “Korea Tomorrow” aiming at converging fine art, design, and architecture. In cooperation with SKIRA, he worked as chief curator and author of “Korean Eye: Contemporary Korean Art I” in 2010 and “Korean Eye: Contemporary Korean Art II” in 2012, and Korean Beauty, the publication introducing Korean culture during the G 20 Seoul Summit in 2010. Currently Lee Dae-Hyung is leading Hyundai Motor’s global art initiatives that include MMCA’s 「Hyundai Motor Series」 to Tate Modern’s 「Hyundai Commission」, MMCA’s 「Hyundai Motor Serie」, LACMA’s「Hyundai Project」, Bloomberg 「Brilliant Ideas」, 「Hyundai Meets Art」, 「ART-UNI-ON」, and more.
Artist-Ahn Kyu-Chul Born in Seoul in 1955, Ahn Kyu-Chul studied sculpture at Seoul National University, College of Fine Arts. After graduating in 1977, he joined The Quarterly Art, where he worked as an editor for seven years. In 1985, he took part in the Reality and Utterance movement and presented miniature works to the public that went against the dominant trend of the times. Two years later, at the age of 33, he traveled to Paris to study art, and the following year moved to Germany, where he studied at Staatliche Akademie der Bildende Künste Stuttgart. While a student there, he took his first steps toward becoming a full-time artist by holding his first solo exhibition at Space Saemteo (Seoul) in 1992. After returning to Korea in 1995, he held 10 solo exhibitions over the next 19 years, including “In Between Objects”, “Trivialities”, “Forty-nine Rooms”, “Drawn to the Rainbow”, “All And But Nothing”, “Invisible Land of Love”(MMCA) and also took part in numerous special exhibitions and biennales in Korea and overseas as he exposed a different side to life, one hidden in everyday objects and spaces. Ahn started writing when he was working as a journalist, and this formed an important turning point in his approach to art. From that point on, he became a prolific author and published several books, including Museum without Paintings, The Man’s Suitcase, 43 Tables, Nine Goldfish and Water in the Distance. As many have commented, Ahn’s writing often reveals a truth that cannot be captured in art. Since 1997, he has been teaching at Korea National University of Arts, School of Visual Arts. Curator-Lee Dae-Hyung Lee Dae-Hyung, art critic, curator, and the acclaimed POWER LEADER 2012 by Forbes Korea, is the founding curator of curating company Hzone, Korean Eye and Korea Tomorrow. He has been curating contemporary Asian art for the last 14 years. From Seoul to Beijing, to New York and London, Dae-Hyung has worked with Lee Yong-Baek( “Venice Biennale 2011 Korean Pavilion”) , Debbie Han( “Korean Eye”, 2009), Suh Do-Ho, Zhang Xiao-Gang, Zeng Fan-Zhi, Yue Min-Jun, Fang Li-Jun, Miao Xiao-Chun, Zhang Peng and many more. “Korean Eye Moon Generation” at Saatchi Gallery in 2009 attracted approximately 250,000 viewers in London. Thanks to this success, “Korean Eye” became an annual brand and continued its nomadic show until 2012 at Saatchi Gallery in London. He has also organized the annual exhibition “Korea Tomorrow” aiming at converging fine art, design, and architecture. In cooperation with SKIRA, he worked as chief curator and author of “Korean Eye: Contemporary Korean Art I” in 2010 and “Korean Eye: Contemporary Korean Art II” in 2012, and Korean Beauty, the publication introducing Korean culture during the G 20 Seoul Summit in 2010. Currently Lee Dae-Hyung is leading Hyundai Motor’s global art initiatives that include MMCA’s 「Hyundai Motor Series」 to Tate Modern’s 「Hyundai Commission」, MMCA’s 「Hyundai Motor Serie」, LACMA’s「Hyundai Project」, Bloomberg 「Brilliant Ideas」, 「Hyundai Meets Art」, 「ART-UNI-ON」, and more.
Artist-Zhang Pei-Li Zhang Pei-Li was born in Hangzhou, China in 1957, and graduated from the Oil Painting Department of China Academy of Art (formerly Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts) in 1984. At present, he works and lives in Hangzhou. His early representative work is the oil painting X?, and he began to create artworks by using various medium, including words, in 1986. In 1988, he created video art 30X30. He completely gave up easel painting in 1994 and focus on media art works that mainly use video as medium. His works have been frequently participated in important international exhibitions like Venice Biennale, and collected by important art institutions like MOMA in New York. Curator-Lu Ming-Jun Lu Ming-Jun has a Ph.D. in History from Sichuan University (2011). He is currently Associate Professor of Art History at Art College, Sichuan University. Lu’s research interests include history of modern and contemporary Chinese art, and art historiography in Europe and America since the 1960s. His academic essays have been published in Wenyi Yanjiu, Meishu Yanjiu, Twenty-first Century, Art Criticism in Taiwan, and Tianya. His recent books include Writing and Narrating of Vision: The Vision of History and Theory (2013); Visual Cognition and Art History: Michel Foucault, Hubery Damisch, Jonathan Crary (2014); and On Meta-Painting: An Art Institution and Cognition of Universality (2015). Lu Ming-Jun is the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Greater China Research Grant 2015.
Artist-Zhang Pei-Li Zhang Pei-Li was born in Hangzhou, China in 1957, and graduated from the Oil Painting Department of China Academy of Art (formerly Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts) in 1984. At present, he works and lives in Hangzhou. His early representative work is the oil painting X?, and he began to create artworks by using various medium, including words, in 1986. In 1988, he created video art 30X30. He completely gave up easel painting in 1994 and focus on media art works that mainly use video as medium. His works have been frequently participated in important international exhibitions like Venice Biennale, and collected by important art institutions like MOMA in New York. Curator-Lu Ming-Jun Lu Ming-Jun has a Ph.D. in History from Sichuan University (2011). He is currently Associate Professor of Art History at Art College, Sichuan University. Lu’s research interests include history of modern and contemporary Chinese art, and art historiography in Europe and America since the 1960s. His academic essays have been published in Wenyi Yanjiu, Meishu Yanjiu, Twenty-first Century, Art Criticism in Taiwan, and Tianya. His recent books include Writing and Narrating of Vision: The Vision of History and Theory (2013); Visual Cognition and Art History: Michel Foucault, Hubery Damisch, Jonathan Crary (2014); and On Meta-Painting: An Art Institution and Cognition of Universality (2015). Lu Ming-Jun is the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Greater China Research Grant 2015.
Works
