Ho Rui An Awarded Visions of the City Research Grant for Work on ‘Meta-Markets’
The Obayashi Foundation will support the continued critical analysis of capital and urban transformation by the Singaporean artist with a research grant. Save to My Ocula
Singaporean artist and writer Ho Rui An is the latest recipient of the Obayashi Foundation’s Visions of the City research grant—a biennial programme supporting artists exploring urban environments through an innovative and interdisciplinary approach.
Ho’s recent projects have examined the historical conditions and commodity trading networks shaping nation states and urban development across East and Southeast Asia.
The grant will support his research to continue through 2025.
Selection committee chair Shino Nomura commended his focus on historicised studies of ‘meta-markets’ as a vital yet often overlooked force in shaping cities.
‘He is known for creating lecture performances and video works that take a critical perspective on global capitalist systems and explain how contemporary capitalist economics came to be in East Asia and Southeast Asia—not to mention the deep-rooted impact of the West,’ she said.
Previous recipients of the grant include Theaster Gates, whose Afro-Mingei project investigated race and cultural hybridity, and Minouk Lim, whose Hyper Yellow explored the Yellow Sea as a conduit between Northeast Asian Sinitic cultures.
Founded in 1998, the Obayashi Foundation also awards the biennial Obayashi Prize. Its founder, Takeo Obayashi—listed among ARTnews’s Top 200 Collectors—has recognised leading cultural figures including pianist Martha Argerich (2024), and Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson (2020). —[O]
Main image: Ho Rui An. Photo: Eike Walkenhorst.
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