Let's Get Into Digital (Dec-Jan)

Silverlens, Objectifs, RAT School of Art and The Forest Curriculum etc.
by Alana Malika

Mit Jai Inn, ‘Junta Monochrome 2’, 2016, oil on canvas, 120 x 95cm. Image courtesy of Silverlens.

Silverlens 
The pandemic has forced us to replace strolls in a gallery with scrolls through a webpage. Silverlens has embraced this opportunity to upgrade their website to facilitate seamless communication, research, and art viewing. On the site, users can access an artist's profile, CV, artworks, and press releases. Most notably, users can peruse the viewing room that features exclusive digital exhibitions for a limited time. To conclude 2020, Silverlens' viewing room currently features ‘Junta Monochromes’ (2016) by Thai artist Mit Jai Inn. In the featured interview for this exhibition, Mit explained how these floor-to-ceiling, heavy impasto paintings represent the polarized politics of King Rama X and his ascension in 2016. Learn how to navigate Silverlens’ new site in this video!

Silverlens, 3-23 December 2020

Image courtesy of Objectifs - Centre for Photography & Film.

A History of Cinematic Exhibitions in Southeast Asia by May Adadol Ingawanij
Hosted by Objectifs, ‘Curatorial (Case Studies): Public Talks’ is a trilogy of online lectures that delve into the photography and film scene in Southeast Asia. In its final installment, Objectifs has invited May Adadol Ingawanji, a Professor of Cinematic Arts at the University of Westminster. From prehistoric screenings like wayang puppet theatre to contemporary works like her own project, ‘Animistic Apparatus’, Ingawanji will recount the dynamic history of cinematic exhibitions in Southeast Asia while unraveling the film media’s affinity with animism.

Objectifs - Centre for Photography & Film, 16 December 2020, 8.30 - 9.30pm (GMT+8). Click here to register via Zoom.

The Forest Is In The City Is In The Forest - II: Artistic Research and Non-human Agency
This month, the RAT School of Art and The Forest Curriculum will continue their collaboration in a virtual event on ‘Artistic Research and Non-Human Agency.’ The event will have two lectures discussing the exploration of our collective consciousness with both human and non-human entities in nature. In the first lecture, Natasha Tontey will discuss how the intertwining of myth and history has shaped our relationship to nature with both awe & fear. Cristian Tablazon and Ayesha Gergis will lead the second lecture in an analysis of how our interactions with nature's ecosystems have influenced history and its preservation in museums.

RAT School of ART and The Forest Curriculum, 18 December 2020, 5:30 – 7:30 PM (GMT+8). Click here to register via Eventbrite.

POWWOW
In 2020, art is rarely consumed in physical space but instead digitized for our computer screens at home. POWWOW discusses the resiliency of the Southeast Asian art industry during this pandemic in a series of talks featuring some of the leaders of the industry’s digital transformation. In ‘Talk 1- Better Together: New Ideas and Networks,’ Nadya Wang moderated a seminar on the collective and personal efforts of Tan Boon Hui, Emi Eu, and Alessio Antoniolli to open international networking of art practitioners and how it will innovate the future of local art scenes in Southeast Asia. Click here for a summary and recording of Talk 1. Up next, Shawn Chua will moderate ‘Talk 2 - Mix & It’s a Match! Cross-Pollinations Beyond the Art Landscape’ will discuss the fluidity of art. Regina De Rozario, Rizman Putra, Jeremy Sharma, and Ng Xi Jie join together to explore how collaborations expanded the intersections between writing, theatre, and all art forms!

Art & Market and Singapore Art Week, 17 December, 5 - 6 pm (GMT+8). Read more about Talk 2 here or click here to register via Zoom.