Ocula Report ‘An Opera for Animals’ at Rockbund Art Museum 19 Jul 2019 : Penny Liu for Ocula An Opera for Animals was first staged at Para Site in Hong Kong between 23 March and 2 June 2019, with works by over 48 artists and collectives that use opera as a metaphor for modes of contemporary, cross-disciplinary art-making. The exhibition's second iteration takes up a large portion of the Rockbund Art Museum (RAM) in Shanghai (22 June–25...
Ocula Conversation Mandy El-Sayegh: Productive Ambiguity Moving across installation, painting, drawing, and writing, Malaysia-born and London-based artist Mandy El-Sayegh explores the political, social, and economic complexities of humanity, using a mosaic of information—from advertising slogans and pornographic imagery to newspaper articles—that she subjects to processes of layering,...
Ocula Report Get Up, Stand Up Now: Generations of Black Creative Pioneers at Somerset House 5 Jul 2019 : Jareh Das for Ocula Get Up Stand Up Now: Generations of Black Creative Pioneers at Somerset House in London (12 June–15 September 2019) surveys more than half a century of black creativity in Britain and beyond across the fields of art, film, photography, music, design, fashion, and literature.Curated by Zak Ové, works by approximately 100 intergenerational black...
Ocula Conversation In the hot heat of the moment, history is sometimes only recorded in snippets. In the flurry to understand, information is conflated, building a historical account that never quite captures the reality of the moment. In 1989, Chinese artist Xiao Lu fired a handgun into her installation Dialogue displayed in the China/Avant-Garde exhibition, the...
Ocula Report Sydney Exhibitions to See: The Lowdown 7 Sep 2018 : Elyse Goldfinch for Ocula Sydney Contemporary returns to Carriageworks for its fourth edition between 13 and 16 September 2018 with 87 local and international galleries and a full programme of performances, talks, large-scale curated installations and tours. Beyond the fair, Sydney is abundant with standout shows that challenge perceptions around identity, the body, and...
Ocula Report Biennale of Sydney: Equilibrium & Engagement 25 May 2018 : Tess Maunder for Ocula SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement marks the twenty-first edition of the Biennale of Sydney (16 March–11 June 2018). Curated by Mami Kataoka, it brings together over 70 artists and artist collectives from 35 different countries exhibiting at 7 venues, including the Sydney Opera House, and marks the first time an Asian-born curator has been...
Ocula Conversation Mikala Tai Director, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney In September last year Mikala Tai assumed her new directorship of Sydney’s 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. 4A is an initiative of the Asian Australian Artists’ Association Inc., a non-profit organisation established in 1996 to present and promote the work of Asian and Asian-Australian artists. This organisation was established...
Ocula Conversation Zheng Guogu Founding Member, The Yangjiang Group, China Over the Australian summer, cult Chinese artists Yangjiang Group will present a new multi-site work commissioned by 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. Actions for Tomorrow will take over both the public and private areas at 4A in addition to a one-night only participatory performance and garden party at the Chinese Gardens of...
