Contemporary Art Southeast

This anthology explores artistic practices and works from a diverse and vibrant region. Scholars, critics, and curators offer their perspectives on Southeast Asian art and artists, aiming not to define the field but to Illuminate its changing nature and Its Interactions with creative endeavors and histories originating elsewhere. These essays examine a range of new and modern work, from sculptures that Invoke post-conflict trauma In Cambodia to Thai art Installations that Invite audience participation and thereby challenge traditional definitions of the "art obJect." In this way, the authors not only provide a lively stUdy of regional art, but challenge and expand broad debates about international and transnational art.

Modern Art of Southeast Asia: Introductions from A to Z features 60 concise and accessibly written accounts of the key ideas and currents underlying modern art in the region. These are accompanied by over 250 beautifully reproduced artworks from the collection of National Gallery Singapore, and other public and private collections in Southeast Asia and beyond. The book offers an informative first encounter with art as well as refreshing perspectives, and is a rewarding resource for students.

A constellation of thoughts by 25 established and emerging scholars who plot the indices of modernity and locate new coordinates within the shifting landscape of art. These newly commissioned essays are accompanied by close to 200 full-colour image plates.

This anthology explores artistic practices and works from a diverse and vibrant region. Scholars, critics, and curators offer their perspectives on Southeast Asian art and artists, aiming not to define the field but to Illuminate its changing nature and Its Interactions with creative endeavors and histories originating elsewhere. These essays examine a range of new and modern work, from sculptures that Invoke post-conflict trauma In Cambodia to Thai art Installations that Invite audience participation and thereby challenge traditional definitions of the "art obJect." In this way, the authors not only provide a lively stUdy of regional art, but challenge and expand broad debates about international and transnational art.

Who spoke of the modern in Southeast Asia? When and where was the modern written? How was it written? How was it received? This collection brings together nearly 300 texts that were originally published between the late 19th to late 20th centuries, selected by a group of scholars as responses to questions such as these. The texts were produced chiefly in various locations in the region, by artists, critics, historians and curators in 11 languages, many of which had never before been translated into the English language. Years in the making, this publication is the first to present such breadth and depth of art writing in the region of Southeast Asia, and will be a valuable resource to students, teachers, scholars and those interested in Southeast Asian studies and art history. Looking from inside the region, the rich fecundity of art discourses becomes clear if for example we compare the 1843 text by Raden Saleh from what is now Indonesia with the 1946 text of S. Sudjojono, allowing a historical grasp of modernity from two of its original texts, or across the region to the 1971 text on Malaysia by Piyadasa. The tyranny of physical, cultural, and temporal separation are thus overcome. It is to the great credit of the editors that they have enabled this for us, and this work will be a basic art historical reference both inside and beyond the region for some time to come. —John Clark, Emeritus Professor of Art History, University of Sydney Needed now more than ever, this collection opens up new worlds in the guise of a region called Southeast Asia. Each carefully selected text offers a new point of access to thinking through, across, beyond and with the elusive idea of the “modern.” A signal achievement, this volume is both a rich introduction to the region as well as a vital resource for anyone genuinely committed to art histories that generate new spaces rather than settle for existing realms. —Joan Kee, Professor, History of Art, University of Michigan

Published by the Singapore Art Museum T. K. Sabapathy has been writing on the art of Southeast Asia for more than four decades, as a critic, curator, and art historian. He is a penetrating critic and ardent advocate for the art and artists of Singapore and Malaysia. His art historical methods, critical documentation, deep dialogue with artists, and detailed explication of their works have set the course of art discourse in the region. Writing the Modern is the first collection of Sabapathy's work, featuring pieces that represent the scope and depth of his output and highlight his most important and influential writings. At the same time, it is a survey of the vast changes in the landscape of art in the region over the period. Sabapathy chronicles the shift in Asian art from a predominantly nationalist/modernist mode to a global contemporary style. Those new to his work will find this the ideal introduction to his oeuvre. And his longtime fans will find this book the perfect opportunity for review and renewed consideration of his work. Ultimately, it's a collection sure to fuel a new generation of modern and contemporary art writing, research, and exhibition making.

Reworlding Art History highlights the significance of contemporary Southeast Asian art and artists, and their place in the globalized art world and the internationalizing field of 'contemporary art'. In the light of the region's modern art history, the book surveys this relatively under-examined area of contemporary art which first found broad international recognition in the 1990s.Traced here are significant exhibitions that featured contemporary Southeast Asian art and brought it to regional and international attention. Examined are seminal foundational art histories, and dominant methods and thematic frameworks for engaging with Southeast Asian art. Key artists, exhibitions, collections, scholarship, ideologies, and discourses shaping its developing history are discussed, as are major works by artists associated with Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore.Far from being peripheral, Southeast Asian art has helped create the very conditions of international contemporary art, compelling us to examine the Euro-American biases of art history. The book stresses local creative contexts and cultural histories of the rich modern and contemporary art of the region and its diaspora, revealing its plurality and diversity. The concept 'Southeast Asia' is treated as a crucial entry-point for examining art and artists associated with this unique region and for extending debate on the local/global constitution of contemporary art.Of central importance is the aesthetic agency of contemporary Southeast Asian art - its invitation to sensory and affective response - and its capacity for dialogue and diverse significations across borders. Also considered is the effect of shifting art-historical frameworks on engagement with this stimulating art.Richly illustrated and incorporating cross-cultural and interdisciplinary methods, Reworlding Art History is a foundational reference work for those interested in Southeast Asia's contemporary art, in¬cluding scholars of art history, Asian studies, curatorship, museology, visual culture, and anthropology, as well as pro¬fessionals working in art and museum contexts.Michelle Antoinette is a researcher of modern and contemporary Asian art affiliated with the Australian National University. She recently concluded an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant project on contemporary Asian art and museum networks. Author of numerous art-historical studies, she is also co-editor of Contemporary Asian Art and Exhibitions: Connectivities and World-Making.