Conversations | Thinking Historically in the Present, After Okwui
Art Basel Hong Kong 2023, March 23
What is the future of the biennale and what are its functions for a heterogenous 21st century transnational public? With Sharjah Biennial 15 departing from the work of Okwui Enwezor, who framed the biennale as a site of global, post-colonial realignment, artistic directors and curators of recent biennales share what they have learned from working with one of the artworld’s most potent and contentious exhibition formats.
‣ farid rakun and Ade Darmawan of ruangrupa, Artistic Directors, documenta fifteen
‣ Binna Choi, Co-Artistic Director, Singapore Biennale 2023, and Curator, Hawai’i Triennial 2025
‣ Shubigi Rao, Curator, Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2022/23
‣ Hoor Al Qasimi, Director and Curator, Sharjah Biennial 15
‣ Moderator: Adeena Mey, Editor and Research Fellow, Afterall
‣ ruangrupa is a Jakarta-based collective and non-profit organization that encourages critical perspectives on Indonesian contemporary issues by supporting the ideas of art engaging with other disciplines, within the urban and cultural context. Established in 2000, ruangrupa have also been involved in many collaborative and exchange projects such as exhibitions, festivals, art labs, workshops, research, as well as publications. In 2018, learning from their experience of establishing Gudang Sarinah Ekosistem, and together with Serrum and Grafis Huru Hara, ruangrupa co-initiated GUDSKUL: contemporary art collective and ecosystem studies (pronounced like “good school” in English), a public learning space that practices an expanded understanding of collective values, such as equality, solidarity, and togetherness.
‣ Binna Choi is a curator and un-learner for the commons. She has been the director at Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons (Utrecht/NL) and co-curated Singapore Biennale 2022 named Natasha. Choi is also the Curator for Hawai’i Triennial 2025.
‣ Artist and writer Shubigi Rao makes layered installations of books, etchings, drawings, pseudo-scientific machines, metaphysical puzzles, video, ideological board games, garbage and archives, and has been exhibited and collected in Singapore and internationally. Her interests include archaeology, neuroscience, libraries, archival systems, histories and lies, literature and violence, ecologies and natural history. Rao represented Singapore at the National Pavilion in La Biennale di Venezia (Arte) in 2022.
‣ Hoor Al Qasimi, President and Director of Sharjah Art Foundation, is a curator who established the Foundation in 2009 as a catalyst and advocate for the arts, not only in Sharjah, UAE, but also in the region and around the world. With a passion for supporting experimentation and innovation in the arts, Al Qasimi has continuously expanded the scope of the Foundation. Under her leadership, Sharjah Biennial has become an internationally recognised platform for contemporary artists, curators and cultural producers. Her leadership in the field led to her election as President of the International Biennial Association (IBA) in 2017. Al Qasimi also serves as the President of The Africa Institute and President and Director of the Sharjah Architecture Triennial.
‣ Adeena Mey is a researcher, curator and educator. Through writing, editorial and curatorial projects, his research engages with the histories, theories and practices of the moving image, exhibition studies, cybernetics as well as East and Southeast Asian art histories. He is Editor and Research Fellow at Afterall, a research centre of the University of Arts London which focuses its activities on the value of contemporary art and its relation to wider society. Its specialist research areas include ‘Art Becoming Public’, and ‘The Work of Art’.
This talk was conducted in English, with simultaneous interpretation available in Cantonese and Mandarin.
The Art Basel Hong Kong 2023 Conversations program is curated by Stephanie Bailey.
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