The work Calendars is composed of 1001 images of deserted public areas in Singapore printed on pages of a calendar set from the year of 2020 until 2096. Yet Chong photographed these public spaces (shopping centers, museums, MRT stations and schools) between 2004 and 2010. Calendars continues Hong’s conceptual investigation of the intersections between time, space and situation.
With a habit of reading eight to ten books at the same time, Chong paints his two-foot tall novel covers through referencing an extensive reading list (accessible on Facebook) he has kept since 2006. Entitled “Bibliography (1): The Lonely Ones,” the list outlines representations of solitude that has been imposed on individuals or communities. Chong divides these archetypes into three over-arching notions: the Hide-away, the Castaway and the Prisoner.
Originally commissioned for documenta 14, Khvay Samnang’s two-channel video work Preah Kunlong (The way of the spirit) takes land politics, resource extraction and Indigenous Cambodian resistance as its primary concern. Created in collaboration with the classically-trained dancer and choreographer Nget Rady — who is also the performer in the video — Preah Kunlong powerfully utilizes a lexicon of gestures and movement to point toward the need for embodied forms of knowledge and understanding amidst the mechanistic frameworks of rapacious development, which are threatening not just forests and Indigenous communities in Southeast Asia, but also worldwide. More specifically, Preah Kunlong offers a proposal for the language of the body to exercise what political ecologist Nancy Lee Peluso has called “counter-mapping”, a form of “critical cartography” that has been practiced by Indigenous forest communities in Southeast Asia to strengthen claims on their traditional territories and resources by defying hegemonic mapmaking methods, which have long abetted strategies of colonial rule and resource extraction.
Khvay Samnang’s work critically examines the interlocking nature of ritual and politics, the humanitarian and ecological impacts of globalization, colonialism and migration, and the cultural-material histories of exchange that have shaped the Southeast Asia region...
Artists announced for Venice Biennale 2024, which will spotlight queer and Indigenous names...
Japanese ‘rainbow artist’ Ay-O’s debut solo Hong Kong exhibition the first in a series highlighting significant Asian artists | South China Morning Post Advertisement Advertisement Art + FOLLOW Get more with my NEWS A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you Learn more Japanese artist Ay-O’s screenprint “Homage to Rousseau” is part of his exhibition at the M+ museum of visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District...
The Working Processes of Artists: Chong Fah Cheong | ArtsEquator Skip to content Chong Fah Cheong is the artist behind First Generation, the iconic bronze sculpture of boys jumping into the Singapore River...
Tan Boon Hui: A Cultural Leader Of Grace and Courage | ArtsEquator Skip to content The Executive Director of Singapore's Arts House Limited's untimely death last week reverberated through the international art world...
project SALOME: A shared silhouette, redressed | ArtsEquator Skip to content Rebecca G...
Redressing a shared silhouette: project SALOME at SIFA 2022 | ArtsEquator Skip to content What is project SALOME ? Who is Seah Loh Mei? Singapore theatre director Ong Keng Sen puts his own spin on the fantastical figure of Salome in this multidisciplinary multi-pronged performance which incorporates documentary film, live performance and even a pre-event social media component....
Why Is Southeast Asian Cinema Still Lagging Internationally? | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints February 9, 2022 By ArtsEquator (1,187 words, 3-minute read) In Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries, it is common to find Hollywood blockbusters dominating our movie conversations...
Sales Report: Art Basel Hong Kong May 2021 Hauser & Wirth installation Art Basel Hong Kong, May 2021...
Citizen X marks the spot for a family treasure none of us can find | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints Courtesy of The Finger Players March 4, 2021 By Corrie Tan (2,050 words, 10-minute read) Over the course of Citizen X , my father nudges me in the arm several times, whispering loudly and theatrically: “ It’s so similar leh!” All throughout the 75 minutes, he wiggles around in his seat, emitting sighs, laughter, tsk-tsks , and the occasional “wow”...
(Episode 1) What's in a Scene - 《大狗民》Citizen Dog by The Finger Players | ArtsEquator Skip to content In this episode, Liu Xiaoyi and Oliver Chong unpack a scene from The Finger Players 十指帮 ‘s 《大狗民》Citizen Dog and talk about the set design, costume design and more...
The working processes of artists: Chong Li-Chuan | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles May 11, 2020 Sonic artist and composer Chong Li-Chuan shares how he uses sound and music to complement and elevate performances, from theatre to site-specific works, dance and movement...
Ong Keng Sen: Pushing the conversation | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles Patricia Bateira May 6, 2020 Theatre stalwart Ong Keng Sen returns to helm Singapore theatre company TheatreWorks, after being away for a decade to complete his PhD in Performance Studies at Tisch School of the Arts in New York...
Interview with Wang Chong for "Made In China 2.0" | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles Mark Pritchard March 23, 2020 The following review is made possible through a Critical Residency programme supported by By Nabilah Said (1,000 words, 6-minute read) Experimental Chinese theatremaker Wang Chong presented a work-in-progress showing of his newest work, Made in China 2.0 , at Asia TOPA in February...
Monsters' Ink: A Fiend’s Diary & Heather | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles Tuckys Photography December 2, 2019 By Nabilah Said (1,500 words, 7-minute read) Spoiler Alert: The following contains major spoilers for the shows A Fiend’s Diary and Heather...
Podcast 64: The Orange Production 2019 | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints Gabriel Chia September 1, 2019 Duration: 37 min In this latest podcast, ArtsEquator editor Nabilah Said and theatre reviewer Naeem Kapadia discuss the productions We Were So Hopeful Then (written by Ellison Tan and directed by Alvin Tan) and Acting Mad (with texts by Haresh Sharma, Harris Albar and Maryam Noorhimli and directed by Haresh Sharma), presented as part of The Orange Production 2019 by The Necessary Stage...
Instructions for reheating: “Forked” by The Finger Players | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints August 28, 2019 By Nabilah Said (820 words, 5-minute read) In the pre-show for Forked , playwright and performer Jo Tan is warming up, prepping her body...
Crashing realities: "Acting Mad" by The Necessary Stage | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles Gabriel Chia August 22, 2019 By Nabilah Said (747 words, 5-minute read) Content warning: References to self-harm and sexual assault Someone cried...
Migrant Ecologies Project: A Grain of Wheat Inside a Salt Water Crocodile | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Grain of Wheat July 8, 2019 The artist’s book is the main artistic contribution of the Project...
Migrant Ecologies Project: A Grain of Wheat Inside a Salt Water Crocodile | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Grain of Wheat July 8, 2019 Zachary Chan and Muhammad Faisal Bin Husni in a ritual ‘wheat gleaning ceremony’ in Singapore...
Migrant Ecologies Project: A Grain of Wheat Inside a Salt Water Crocodile | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles July 8, 2019 By Lucy Davis (600 words, 5-minute read) Another Chinese tradi tion, which probably has no connection with the previous one is that the Butterworth cannon belonged to ‘Pangli ma’ (Warrior) Ah Chong a bravo of the Inter-Chinese wars which took place in the Larut tin fields in 1862, and lasted sporadically for ten years...
Book Review: "The State and The Arts in Singapore: Policies and Institutions" | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles Images courtesy of Institute of Policy Studies, Singapore April 9, 2019 By Chin Ailin (734 words, four-minute read) Commissioned by the Institute of Policy Studies of Singapore (IPS) to trace the course of cultural policy in Singapore from the 1950s to the present, The State and the Arts in Singapore: Policies and Institutions is a comprehensive tome that should serve as an essential text in time to come for any student’s introduction to Singapore’s arts and cultural policies...
Programming The Studios 2019: An Interview with Lynn Yang | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles March 14, 2019 By Selina Chong (519 words, two-minute read) The Studios is Esplanade’s longest running platform for supporting Singapore’s theatre scene...
Exploring the Past Through the Personal: “Meantime” and “Rojak Romance” at TFOOPFest | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles February 18, 2019 By Akanksha Raja (1181 words, five-minute read) It’s 2019 and nostalgia is in the air in Singapore, thanks to the Bicentennial fever that is sweeping the country...
Weekly Picks: Malaysia (18–24 Feb 2019) | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Weekly To Do February 18, 2019 #WomensMarchMY Festival, at Ruang by ThinkCity, 24 Feb, 11am–6pm This festival provides a series of events to deepen collective understand for this year’s five #WomensMarchMY demands , and the diverse experience of women and marginalised groups...
Weekly Picks: Singapore (28 January – 3 February 2019) | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Weekly To Do January 28, 2019 Prologue by The Arts House at the Old Parliament, until 2 Feb Head on down to The Arts House for a series of programmes that celebrate words and stories from all over the world in conjunction with Light to Night Festival...
Weekly Picks: Singapore (12 - 18 November 2018) | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Weekly To Do November 12, 2018 667 , a Film Screening by Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre, 17 – 18 November 2018 Here’s your chance to catch 667 《回程667》 as the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre celebrates the latest win of local filmmaker, Jun Chong, whose debut short film Ke《客》 , was awarded the Best Asian Short at the 13th Sapporo International Short Film Festival...
“Closer” at Both Sides, Now: What Do We Choose to Remember? | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles Zinkie Aw for Both Sides, Now October 29, 2018 By Loo Zihan (1430 words, six-minute read) “What will we forget? What do we hold on to?...
Weekly Picks: Malaysia (22–28 October 2018) | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Weekly To Do October 22, 2018 The 11th International Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival 2018 , at Publika, 22–28 Oct This annual environmental film festival has been here since 2008, and grown over the years in breadth...
"Framed, by Adolf": Truth as Shadow-Play | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles Tuckys Photography June 30, 2018 By Akanksha Raja (850 words, six-minute read) In Framed, by Adolf , playwright-director Chong Tze Chien’s fascination with Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust continues from 2016’s Starring Hitler as Jekyll and Hyde , which explored the idea of the dictator as a failed artist...
With a habit of reading eight to ten books at the same time, Chong paints his two-foot tall novel covers through referencing an extensive reading list (accessible on Facebook) he has kept since 2006...
The work Calendars is composed of 1001 images of deserted public areas in Singapore printed on pages of a calendar set from the year of 2020 until 2096...
Originally commissioned for documenta 14, Khvay Samnang’s two-channel video work Preah Kunlong (The way of the spirit) takes land politics, resource extraction and Indigenous Cambodian resistance as its primary concern...