The fair’s gateway to the Global South
By Nadya Wang

Art Dubai will return for its 16th edition at Madinat Jumeirah from 3 to 5 March 2023. Over 100 galleries from 43 countries will present works in four sections: Contemporary, Modern, Bawwaba and Digital. In this conversation, we check in with Vipash Purichanont, Art Dubai Bawwaba 2023 Curator, who talks about how his practice informs his curation of the section, which returns for its third iteration, and bringing Southeast Asian artists – and galleries – into the fold to tell a fuller story about the Global South at the fair.

Vipash Purichanont. Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum.

What led you to become the curator for Bawwaba? What were the circumstances leading to the appointment, and what were your motivations for saying yes?

I was invited to be the curator for Bawwaba by Pablo del Val, the artistic director of Art Dubai through the recommendation of Patrick D. Flores. Patrick joined the fair’s curator exchange program last year as one of the participants. Meaning ‘gateway’ in Arabic, the Bawwaba section itself has an interesting history. It is a section of Art Dubai dedicated to new work – made in the last year – by artists from across the Global South and this year is its third edition. Retrospectively, it was curated by a curator from South Asia and Africa. It makes sense that the fair wants to reach for a curator from Southeast Asia. I am honoured by the invitation.

By the time the invitation arrived, I had just finished curating the Thailand Biennale, which was held in Korat in 2021. I worked under Yuko Hasegawa, who was an artistic director. Although it gave me exposure and opportunity to work with artists across the globe, we were working mostly under the COVID-19 pandemic. It means that I was also supporting colleagues from abroad who could not travel to Thailand. It was a tremendous responsibility. At that point, I had been working in biennales as one of the curatorial team for many years and there was an urge inside me to do something on my own. It was a timely invitation to be the curator for Bawwaba.

Were there artists you were already familiar with and had in mind for Bawwaba from the outset? And what were new discoveries in the process?

There were no Southeast Asia artists in the first two editions, therefore my first task was to introduce Southeast Asia artists to the section. However, Bawwaba has a unique procedure. In order for artists to take part in the section, they needed to be represented by a gallery that would then submit an application through an open call.

Most of the Southeast Asia artists I had in mind are not gallery-represented. They may work with the galleries, but as a collaborative project or on a one-off exhibition contract, so they were automatically not eligible for Bawwaba. Nonetheless, I was able to invite Maryanto, Gregory Halili and Zico Albaiquni, thanks to the support of their galleries. For the rest, I let the process unfold itself. It is important for me to be open to all the options. From the outset, I am aware of my limited knowledge of other regions in the Global South.

How did you make your selection for Bawwaba? What were the criteria you used to arrive at this final group of solo presentations by artists from the Global South?

I began by writing a brief for an open call. I did not intend it to be a theme, but instead a conceptual guideline. A fair is a place where things are travelling to gather, or to be together. Bawwaba wants to be a gateway that informs the gathering. I wanted things that came through this door to carry with them stories of where they came from and traces of their skills. But I also knew that I was looking for something different from what was waiting in front of the gateway. I sought not the particularity of the Global South but concerns that are shared across the globe. Bawwaba should present how the artist from the Global South responds to a set of contemporary issues.

“A fair is a place where things are travelling to gather, or to be together. Bawwaba wants to be a gateway that informs the gathering. I wanted things that came through this door to carry with them stories of where they came from and traces of their skills”

How does your work as not only an independent curator in Southeast Asia but also a lecturer at Silapakorn University colour the way you curate, including how you have curated Bawwaba?

Teaching is a big part that keeps me going. Through working with young people, I am able to learn something new every day. They bring new interests to the class, for example, new technological innovation and new subcultures. But, I also noticed the lack of attention to the material world, which prevents them from cultivating a deeper understanding of art outside of the digital realm. I do not mean to downplay digitalisation and progress that it brings, but I want to grasp and hold the aesthetic experiences in the physical world before they disappear for good. This motivation informs how I curated Bawwaba as well.

Gunjan Kumar, 'Sifr 2', 2023, earth pigments, organic and inorganic pigments on mulberry paper pasted on wooden panel, 94.6 x 94.6cm. Image courtesy of the artist and Exhibit 320.

Siamak Filizadeh, ‘Raising of Lazarus’, 2021, collage by staged narrative photography & digital three-dimensional modeling by c-print, editions - 2 A/P, 150 x 260cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

Could you talk about how the solo presentations interact with each other? Is there a conversation that goes on among them, and/or is there an overarching narrative that you are writing with this curated section?

I am happy with the diversity of solo presentations in the section. For example, Gunjan Kumar, a Chicago-based Indian artist, will present a new body of work that explores the concept of zero. Her sculptural works are created from yellow pigment that she has collected from around the world. They were turned into turmeric cones by hand in a meditative process. Siamak Filizadeh, an Iranian artist, works with digital prints, but his work on social-commentary photographic collage took days of working with models in the studio.

If appropriate, is there any limitation to the section e.g. something that you wanted to include but could/did not?

If there is any challenge, it would be how to plot them into an order that makes sense. I called this session “Against Disappearance” because all the artworks in the section are the fruit of the artists’ extensive attention span. They represent the time invested beyond the hours of making. I think they are also a holder of time in the age of attention economy. My task is to arrange their presence in a way in which the audience can extend their experience in appreciating each presentation individually and the section as a whole. If there is anything regarding the limitation to the section, I would say that we have been able to work around the obstacle.

Moza Almatrooshi, 'The Alphabetics of the Baker', 2021. Image courtesy of the artist and Hunna Art.

Zico Albaiquni, 'Go Tribal to Go Global to Go New Tribal', 2023, oil on canvas, 153 x 150cm. Image courtesy of the artist and Yavuz Gallery.

Could you talk about one or two particularly exciting presentations that you are most looking forward to having visitors experience?

Both Pablo and I very much like the works by Emirati artist Moza Almatrooshi. The limitation was that she works mainly in two mediums: video and performance. To present her video works in the ballroom with other presentations would not do them justice. Therefore, we were exploring the option of organising her performance as a special part of ‘Bawwaba.

Besides being a visual artist, Moza is also a pastry chef. She incorporates gestures of food preparation into her performance. She will perform an ongoing piece, ‘The Alphabetics of the Baker’ as a long-duration piece in Art Dubai outside of the Bawwaba section. I hope that her work will bridge Bawwaba with the main exhibition hall. In the Marjaan Ballroom, I am also looking forward to seeing a new series of paintings by Zico Albaiquni titled ‘Exoticism is a debt that can never be fully repaid, (but we have the power to challenge and transform it)’. I want to know how visitors to the fair feel when they are confronted with his signature neon color palette that speaks through the colonial legacy of Indonesia.

What do you wish for visitors to take away from the presentation, in the context of the fuller Art Dubai? How do you think the experience of visiting Bawwaba will differentiate from the rest of Art Dubai, but also contribute to the overall experience?

I am not particularly wanting Bawwaba to stand out from the rest of the fair. In fact, I am excited to see the Modern and Digital session as much as Bawwaba. I hope every section complements one another and I also hope Bawwaba can fulfil its function as a gateway for the audience to see artistic practices in the Global South. This edition of Bawwaba is not a spectacle by nature, so I hope it leaves a lasting impression instead.

The interview has been edited.

As a part of our Art Dubai 2023 preview, click here to read our conversation with Clara Peh, curator of Art Dubai Digital 2023.

The 16th edition of Art Dubai will run from 3 to 5 March 2023 at Madinat Jumeirah. Read more about the fair here. A&M is proud to be an official media partner of Art Dubai 2023. Subscribe to our e-newsletter here by 11.59pm (GMT+8) on 26 February 2023 to receive a discount code for tickets to the fair in the next issue we send out.

A&M Editor Nadya Wang will also be moderating the talk “Collecting in a Shifting Global Cultural Map” with Teo Yang and Charif Ben Romdane on 3 March 2023. More information here.