Ocula Report Havana Biennial 2019: Constructing the Possible 17 Apr 2019 : Federica Bueti for Ocula I first visited Havana in November 2016, a few days after Fidel Castro died, and just under a year before Hurricane Irma hit Cuba in September 2017. Since then, much has changed, including the hand-painted signs that punctuate the journey from the airport to the city centre, which today do not celebrate the revolution so much as the 'Unidad y...
Ocula Conversation Andrew Stahl and Guo Xiaohui The exhibition Beyond Boundaries at Somerset House in London (12 March–2 April 2019) marked the historic contributions of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing (CAFA) and the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London, on the occasion of their 100th and 150th anniversaries, respectively. Spread across several rooms of Somerset House's...
Ocula Report The National 2019: New Australian Art 13 Apr 2019 : Elyse Goldfinch for Ocula The National 2019: New Australian Art features work by 70 contemporary Australia-based artists split across three venues: the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), Carriageworks, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) (29 March–21 July 2019), as curated by Isobel Parker Philip, curator of photographs at AGNSW; Daniel Mudie Cunningham,...
Through collecting, preserving, and making information on the recent history of contemporary art in Asia easily accessible, AAA aims to facilitate understanding, research, and writing in the field and challenge existing global narratives. AAA is a proactive platform, instigating critical thinking and dialogue, bringing people together, and organising diverse public, educational, and residential programmes for a wide range of audiences. At the core of its mission is AAA's commitment to create a collection belonging to the public, a collection that exists not in an enclosed space, but in a space that is open and productive, generating new ideas and works that continually reshape the Archive itself.
Asia Art Archive is a young and dynamic organisation initiated in 2000 as a direct response to the increasing number of Asian contemporary art exhibitions and events world wide. Based in Hong Kong, AAA, a non-profit organisation and registered charity, is dedicated to documenting the recent history of visual art from the region within an international context. Its first Executive Director, Claire Hsu, founded the Asia Art Archive in collaboration with Chang Tsong-zung and Ronald Arculli. The current chair of the board is Jane DeBevoise.
The first art education centre and library of its kind, AAA boasts one of the most comprehensive collections of primary and secondary source material on contemporary Asian art in the world, with over 32,000 titles accessible to the public, free of charge, via its physical 4,000-square-foot space and searchable from its website.
From its inception, AAA has acknowledged its position in the field as more than a static collection of material waiting to be discovered. Through the regular initiation of educational and public programs by the Research+ Department, AAA endeavours to be pro-active in instigating dialogue and critical thinking, and in introducing as wide an audience as possible to this rich resource through its education program.
Ocula Report Art Basel in Hong Kong: Exhibitions to See 23 Mar 2019 : Tessa Moldan for Ocula For those visiting during Art Basel in Hong Kong (29–31 March 2019), the smell of fresh paint may still be in the air at the latest heritage conservation project, The Mills, which opened on 16 March to encompass the Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textiles (CHAT), joining the ranks with ex-prison complex Tai Kwun, along with Eaton HK—a retro...
Ocula Insight The multidisciplinary artist Lee Wen passed away on 3 March 2019, in Singapore, after having suffered from Parkinson's Disease. He was a pioneer who defined and shaped performance art in Asia. He came of age at a time when Singapore was undergoing the turbulent and uncertain processes of nation-building—from a former British colony to a brief...
Ocula Conversation Nilima Sheikh Artist Nilima Sheikh says it was a different time then. Though always true, what she is describing is the specificity of her life as an artist in India. Born in New Delhi in 1945, Sheikh trained in Baroda, where she now lives. Her paintings contain world lexicons, written in a language she has developed over the last four decades. Integrating source...
Ocula Conversation Verina Gfader Artist, UK A quick tally of the number of international art book fairs may be all that's required to quell any doubts as to the state of art publishing. This provides temporary respite from the steady stream of new tech gadgets and digital platforms that are nonetheless causing seismic shifts in the creation, production, distribution, and engagement of art in...
Related Press Hammad Nasar to curate UAE national pavilion in 2017 Venice Biennale ArtAsiaPacific : 31 October 2016 On October 18, the National Pavilion United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced writer and researcher Hammad Nasar as curator for their participation in the 2017 Venice Biennale. The UAE Pavilion has been commissioned by the Abu-Dhabi based Salama bint Hamdan al-Nahyan Foundation since 2013, and is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge...
Related Press Introducing the Apollo 40 under 40 Asia Pacific Apollo : 1 September 2016 Who are the people under 40 making waves in the art world? That was the question we asked ourselves in 2014, when we launched the first Apollo 40 Under 40. That year’s list, which focused on Europe, and the subsequent 40 Under 40 USA, weren’t meant as power lists but as surveys of talent: of young people who have firmly established...
Related Press Art Asia Archive presents 4th edition of 'Open Platform' at Art Basel in Hong Kong Asia Art Archive : 8 March 2016 Asia Art Archive (AAA) is an independent non-profit organisation initiated in 2000, in response to the urgent need to document and make accessible the multiple recent histories of art in the region. Held in partnership with Art Basel in Hong Kong, AAA's annual Open Platform programme is an integral part of AAA's endeavour to...
Related Press In Singapore, a new cultural vision The New York Times : 5 January 2016 The first work visitors see at the imposing new National Gallery Singapore — a $380 million complex housed in the former Supreme Court and City Hall — is a small 1865 print that could almost be a parody of colonial art.The image, by the German illustrator Heinrich Leutemann, shows a tiger leaping out of the jungle at George...
