ศิลป์อยู่เป็น – The Art of Surviving in the Arts
Part of EARLY YEARS PROJECT #1 : Thisorder
An initiative to foster next-generation artistic talent
presents
Who Cares? The Curatorial Function and its Currency in Thailand
Lecture by Dr. David Teh
25th January 2017
1pm - 3pm
Multifunction Room, 1st Floor, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre
“ศิลป์อยู่เป็น – The Art of Surviving in the Arts” welcomes Dr. David Teh, curator and researcher from the National University of Singapore, as the speaker for our first public session of our art education programme, that will include workshops and lectures by experts in the arts and beyond.
In this lecture Dr. David Teh will begin with an introduction to his forthcoming book Thai Art: Currencies of the Contemporary. After a brief overview, He will situate the book within some key debates around the presentation and study of art in Southeast Asia today. What makes contemporary art 'contemporary'? How should we tell its story? As its production and circulation are more and more transnational, can that story be a national story? Of the many agents who shape, interpret and promote contemporary art - who give it its 'currency' - the curator has been the pivotal mediator between national and international circuits. The second part of the lecture will be focused on the curatorial function and how it has evolved in specific contexts. Is the curatorial role in Thailand the same as it is elsewhere? What value does the curator bring to artistic work? And what dangers? As artists or viewers in Thailand today, what do we actually want from curators?
About lecturer
David Teh is a curator and researcher based at the National University of Singapore, specializing in Southeast Asian contemporary art. Before moving to Singapore, he worked as an independent curator and critic in Bangkok, realising diverse exhibitions including Platform (2006), The More Things Change (5th Bangkok Experimental Film Festival, 2008) and Unreal Asia, 55. Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen (2009). His recent projects have included Video Vortex #7, Yogyakarta (2011) and TRANSMISSION at the Jim Thompson Art Center, Bangkok (2014). He is currently preparing an exhibition called Misfits for the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin. Teh’s writings have appeared in Third Text, Afterall, Theory Culture & Society, LEAP, Aan Journal and The Bangkok Post, and his new book, Thai Art: Currencies of the Contemporary will be published this year by the MIT Press. He is also a director of Future Perfect, a gallery and project platform in Singapore.
*This event will be conducted in English with Thai translation.
For more information, please contact:
Tentacles
Tel. 061-941-6555, 089-744-3772, 082-487-1487
Y.A.N (Young Artist Network)
Exhibition Department, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre
939 Rama I Rd., Wangmai, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel. 02 214 6630 – 8 ext.531
