爆料王

Week 1:听2 August 2022

An Introduction

鈥淔rom Expositions to Biennales: A century of showing Asian Art鈥�

Welcome to Curating Asian Art. For this inaugural seminar, we will explore briefly the historical developments in the exhibition of Asian Art in the international arena, beginning with World Exhibitions. We will identify the contexts in which the display, collection and viewing of Asian art were made where we will also explore the issues and politics that centre around this cultural phenomenon. We will also examine the significance of Asian participation in the contemporary art world, tracing the rise of Asia鈥檚 involvement in the Biennale.

Prescribed Reading:

. Tan, Chang, 鈥淭elling global stories, one at a time: the politics and poetics of exhibiting Asian art鈥�,听World Art, vol. 5, no. 2 (2015): 307鈥�330.

. McCormick, Seth, 鈥淓xhibition as Proposition: Responding critically to the third mind [with Response]鈥�,听Art Journal,听vol. 68, no. 3, (2009): 30-51.

Additional Readings:

. Green, Charles and Gardner, Anthony. 鈥淏iennials of the South on the Edges of the Global,鈥澨�Third Text听27, no. 4 (2013): 442-455.

. Clark, John. 鈥淎sian artists as long-distance cultural specialists in the formation of modernities鈥� in听Asia through Art and Anthropology: Cultural Translation across Borders,听Fuyubi Nakamura, Morgan Perkins and Olivier Krischer, eds. (London: Bloomsbury, 2003) 19-32.

. Viau-Courville, Mathieu.听鈥淢useums without (Scholar-)Curators: Exhibition-making in times of managerial curatorship鈥�,听Museum International,听vol. 68, no. 3/4 (2016): 11-32.

. Poshyananda, Apinan, et. al.听Contemporary art in Asia: traditions, tensions听(New York : Asia Society Galleries, 1996).

. Oren, Michel.听鈥淐ontemporary art in Asia: Traditions/tensions,鈥澨�Third Text听11, no. 41 (Jun 2008): 103-106.

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Week 2:听9 August 2022

Cultural politics and Asian artists in Australian Exhibitions听

For this seminar we will examine the recent history of exhibiting Asian art in Australia against the politicisation of Asian identities and the making of Asian-Australian identities. This is part of a larger exploration of related issues centring around exhibition making and its politics in the context of Australia. Here, we will begin with Gallery 4A, the first institution in Australia focusing on the exhibiting of contemporary Asian art.听

Discussion:听How does 4A听seek to work and what kind of curators do they seek to be and foster? What are the complexities and politics of working in the 鈥淎sia鈥�/ 鈥淎sian-Australian鈥� contexts? How do small spaces operate and collaborate?听

Prescribed Reading:听

. Antoinette, Michelle,听鈥楢 Space for 鈥�Asian-Australian鈥� art: Gallery 4A at the Asia-Australia Arts Centre鈥� in听Journal of Australian Studies, Vol. 32, Issue 4, 531-524.

. Gralton, Beatrice et. al.听鈥淐urating Chinese Contemporary Art in an Australian context鈥�,听Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art,听vol. 16, no. 2 (2016): 247-271.听

Additional Readings:

.听Zhang, Tian. 鈥楤etween Asia and Australia: Curating Asian-Australian Identities at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art鈥�,4A Papers, issue 6, May 2019

. Jacqueline Lo,听鈥楧iaspora, Art and Empathy鈥�, in听The Bridge and the Fruit Tree: John Young - A survey,听ed. Carolyn Barnes and Jacqueline Lo (Canberra: Australian National University Drill Hall Gallery, 2016), 19-43.

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Week 3:听16 August 2022

Re-alignments: Asia in听Triennials听and Asian听Triennials

This seminar explores the role Triennials have played in shaping the production and reception of contemporary Asian art. The lecture will examine regional developments, such as the roles Australia and Japan have variously played in spearheading and driving certain initiatives in the Asia-Pacific/Asia region (namely, the Fukuoka Asian Art Triennial and the Asia-Pacific-Triennial).

Discussion:听What are some of the political, economic and cultural implications and issues raised in the readings? Discuss how the exhibition of contemporary Asian in such transnational spaces have shaped its production and reception, internationally and/or locally.

Prescribed Readings:

. Turner, Caroline.听鈥淚ntroduction: Internationalism and Regionalism: Paradoxes of Identity鈥�, in Turner, Caroline, ed.听Tradition and Change: Contemporary Art of Asia and the Pacific听(Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, 1993), xii-xviii.

. Maravillas, Francis. 鈥淐artographies of the Future: The Asia-Pacific Triennials and the Curatorial Imaginary,鈥澨�in Clark, John, Peleggi, Maurizio, and Sabapathy, T.K., eds.,听Eye of the Beholder: Reception, Audience and Practice of Modern Asian Art,听(Wild Peony, Sydney: 2006), 244-270.

Additional Readings:

. Clark, John. 鈥淐ontemporary Asian听Art at Biennales and Triennales:听The 2005 Venice Biennale and Fukuoka Asian Triennale.听the Sigg Collection, and the Yokohama and Guangzhou听Triennales鈥�,听CAA.reviews听(New York, N.Y.), 2006. Online

. Kazuko, Nakane. 鈥淭he second Fukuoka Asian听Art听Triennale 2002: Fukuoka Asian Art Museum鈥�,听Sculpture听(Archive: 1987-2005),听Vol 22, no 1 (2003): 84.

. Turner, Caroline. 鈥淎rt Speaking for Humanity: The Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art,鈥澨�Art Journal听59, no. 1 (2014): 16-19.

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Week 4:听23 August 2022

Museums and Public Collections: Role of the Curator听

For this seminar, students will be provided with a number of case studies that examine the relationship between and across the role(s) of the curator and the State in mediating the processes of collection and display of contemporary art against the rise of globalisation and internationalism.

Discussion:听Taking as its cue from Linda Nochlin, Patrick Flores asked听why have there been no great curators outside of Europe and America?听In the essay, he offers a curatorial history following the lives and works of two pioneering Southeast Asian curators, Jim Supangkat and Apinan Poshyananda, who have since become 鈥榣ightning rods鈥� in the field of curation. What does this study reveal about the significance of curators in the production and reception of contemporary Asian art?听听

Prescribed Reading:听

. Flores, Patrick D.听鈥淧lace of Curation,鈥� in Flores, Patrick D.,听Past Peripheral: Curation in Southeast Asia听(Singapore: NUS Museum, 2008), 4-33.

. Lee, Weng Choy.听鈥淎necdote and theme: reflections on curating contemporary art from Southeast Asia鈥�,听Art Monthly Australia听no. 279 (May 2015): 32-41.听

Additional Readings:

. Wang, Peggy. 鈥淎rt critics as middlemen: Navigating State and Market in Contemporary Chinese Art, 1980s-1990s,鈥澨�Art Journal听72, no. 1 (2014): 6-19.

. Antoinette, Michelle.听鈥淓xhibiting Southeast Asian Difference: Global and Regional currents鈥�,听Cross/Cultures,听vol. 178, no. 1 (2014): 157-236.

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Week 5:听30 August 2022

Women re-modelling contemporary art worlds: Exhibitions and Projects

This week鈥�s topic discusses the histories of women鈥�s exhibitions in Asia within the broader context of feminist art history. Interest in the histories of women artists, particularly in Asia, is observed to be a relatively recent phenomenon. How did the topic听鈥�Women artists鈥� gain salience over the years? What does the general absence of women artists in history imply about women鈥�s participation in the modern and contemporary art discourses?

Discussion:听In what ways have women-centred spaces and exhibitions presented new problems to female art practitioners? How do women鈥檚 work challenge political and personal gendered spaces? With reference to both readings, discuss how contemporary conditions facilitated the discourse of feminism and supported/hindered the production and reception of women鈥檚 art and practice.

Prescribed Reading:听

. Kee, Joan.听鈥淲hat is Feminist about Contemporary Asian Women鈥�s Art?鈥�, in听Global Feminisms: New Directions in Contemporary Art听(exh. cat.), Maura Reilly and Linda Nochlin, eds. (London and New York: Merrell Publishers and Brooklyn Museum, 2007) 107-121.

. Nair, Varsha. 鈥淲omanifesto: A biennial art exchange in Thailand鈥�,听Southeast of Now: Directions in Contemporary and Modern Art in Asia听3 (1): March 2019, 147-171.

. Wang, Peggy. "Tensile Strength: Threads of resistance in Lin Tianmiao's art"听Positions,听vol 28 (no. 1): 121-144.

Additional Readings:

. Reilly, Maura. 鈥淚ntroduction: Toward Transnational Feminisms鈥�, in听Global Feminisms: New Directions in Contemporary Art听(exh. cat.), Maura Reilly and Linda Nochlin, eds.听听(London and New York: Merrell Publishers and Brooklyn Museum, 2007) 15-46.听

. Bianpoen, Carla, Wardani, Farah and Dirgantoro, Wulan.听Indonesian women artists: The curtain opens听(Jakarta: Yayasan Senirupa Indonesia, 2007) [Introduction].

.听Low, Yvonne. 鈥淲omen re-modelling art worlds: Exhibitions and Projects on Southeast Asian Women Artists (1990-2015),鈥�The Journal of the Asian Arts Society of Australia听24, no. 4 (Dec 2015): 4-6.

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Week听6: 6 September 2022听

Galleries and Private collections: Framing (her)stories

For this seminar, we will be visiting the exhibition at 16albermarle Gallery,听Our Grandfather Road: Art by women from Southeast Asia.听Students will have the opportunity to engage closely and critically with a range of artworks selected for the show.听

Details of the show:

My Grandfather Road is the first exhibition of a Sydney private collection of southeast Asian contemporary art with a focus on younger women artists. Started in 2014, the collection was built through regular travel to the region to visit galleries, collectives, artspaces, museums and biennales, and meet artists, gallerists, curators and collectors. It includes works from Indonesia, Thailand, the Phillipines, Myanmar and Singapore.

The collection arose from a belief that women working as artists in the region encountered serious obstacles to building professional careers and being taken seriously as artists. The obstacles could be religious, cultural, social or economic. The focus on women artists is thus a corrective to local collecting norms and an opportunity to present significant works by some of the region鈥檚 most significant, but in some cases lesser known artists.

The collection is a snapshot of the themes women artists have often engaged with in their work across the region. They include 鈥�

鈥⑻�听听听听听听听听听听The body, the self and identity, family

鈥⑻�听听听听听听听听听听Feminism and the position of women in societies

鈥⑻�听听听听听听听听听听Ideas of public and private space

鈥⑻�听听听听听听听听听听Urbanisation and social dislocation

鈥⑻�听听听听听听听听听听The environment

鈥⑻�听听听听听听听听听听Public empowerment and activism.听

Readings:

.听Dirgantoro, Wulan. 鈥淚ntroduction鈥� in听Feminisms and Contemporary art in Indonesia: Defining Experiences听(Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2017) 15-36.

.听Huangfu, Binghui, ed.听Text and Subtext: Contemporary art and Asian Women听(Singapore: Earl Lu Gallery, 2000) [introduction].

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Week 7:听13 September 2022

Private and Public Collections: Framing 鈥�China鈥� and 鈥楥hineseness鈥�

This seminar continues off from the previous to explore the history and significance of collecting and exhibiting Chinese art. Students will be given the opportunity to examine two case-studies, a current White Rabbit Gallery exhibition and听The China Project听(2009) by Gallery of Modern Art, Queensland, that have shaped the narratives on contemporary Chinese art.听

Discussion:听What narratives are told from the collection and from the curation of the collection? To what extent does the collection frame the curation of the exhibition (and vice versa)? What does the collecting of contemporary Asian art, in this case Chinese art, in public galleries reveal about international relations and cultural policies? On a similar note, how is the private collecting of contemporary Chinese art also reflective of global and state politics?

Prescribed Reading:听

. O鈥�听Riordan, Maurice.听鈥淪pirited Moment Endures: The White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney鈥�听[online].听Art Monthly Australia, no. 223, (Sept 2009): 12-13.

. Bell, David. 鈥淲hite Rabbit, contemporary Chinese arts and soft power in Sydney鈥檚 Chippendale鈥� in听China in Australasia: Cultural diplomacy and Chinese arts since the Cold War,听eds. James Beattie et al.听(London: Routledge, 2019) 133-150.听

. [Excerpts]听The China Project,听catalogue, (Brisbane: Queensland Art Gallery, 2009).听

Additional Readings:

. Smith, Terry, ed.,听Contemporary Art + Philanthropy: Pubic Spaces/Private Funding, Foundations for Contemporary Art, Sydney, UNSW Press in association with the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, 2009.

. Humphries, Oscar. 鈥淢ade in China: Judith Neilson and her husband Kerr founded the White Rabbit Gallery in Sydney, which displays Chinese art produced after the year 2000. She spoke to Apollo about why she wanted to share her collection.鈥澨�Apollo, Nov. 2011, p. 30.

. Keenan, Elizabeth,听The big bang : contemporary Chinese art from the White Rabbit Collection听(Sydney: White Rabbit Gallery, 2010).听听

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Week 8:听20 September 2023

Re-imagining Asia: Guggenheim and Japan鈥檚听Gutai听

This seminar will examine Guggenheim鈥檚 retrospective show on the Gutai that aimed to re-evaluate its role and contribution to the narrative of modernism in Japan and internationally. As it seeks to re-evaluate the experimentations of Gutai painters and their outdoor exhibitions, we will also consider the growing scholarship that has strove to show how the Gutai predated in its originality the changes in western art developments with the creation of genres such as installations, performance and land art.

Prescribed Reading:听

. Munroe, Alexandra.听鈥�To Challenge the Mid-Summer Sun: The Gutai Group,鈥澨�Japanese art after 1945: scream against the sky听(New York: H.N. Abrams, 1994), 19-25

. Tiampo, Ming.听Gutai: decentering modernism听(Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2011) [select chapters].

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MID SEMESTER BREAK 26 Sep - 30 Sep 2022听

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Week 9: 4 October 2022

The Digital turn: Interventions and Innovations in Feminist art history

This is a workshop that will give students the opportunity to use digital tools and methods to ask new research questions. Using a specific set of digitized archival materials, students may play with existing datasets on an integrated online application with the aim to identify patterns and/or gaps in research, and in the process learn to develop and design research questions about women鈥檚 networks, collection records, exhibition histories, and market trends, among others.

Prescribed reading:

. Rezaei, Yasamin. 鈥淒ata Stories for/from All: Why Data Feminism is for Everyone鈥澨�Digital Humanities Quarterly听16, no. 2 (2022): unpaged.听

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Week 10:听11 October 2022

Digital Methods in Museums: Site and Object听

Description:听This seminar will explore the use of digital methods to foster research breakthroughs in scholarship and museum exhibitions. Drawing closely to the Xiangtangshan Caves Project and the Dunhuang Project, we will examine how 3D modelling for instance has variously opened up research into deeper insights to the history of Buddhist art in China, as well as consider the significance of the site and the object.听

Discussion:听What is the significance of the 鈥榮ite鈥� in enabling the interpretation of the object? With close reference to specific projects, how has the use of digital methods to reconstruct the the site, serve to enable the reading and interpretation of the object in context and why is the goal of placing the object in the site crucial for our understanding of pre-modern art/artifacts?

Prescribed Readings:

Tsiang Katharine, "Bodhisattvas, jewels & demons: reconstructing meaning in the North Cave at Xiangtangshan",听Apollo听167, no. 554 (2008): 36-41.

. Whiteman, Stephen, "Beyond the Perspectival Paradigm: Early Modern Pictorial Space and Digital Challenges to the Field",听The Art bulletin听103, no. 2 (2021): 8-23.

Additional Readings:

Tsiang, R. Katherine, and Powers, J. Martin,听鈥�Introduction鈥� in听Looking at Asian Art,听eds. Katherine Tsiang and Martin Powers (Chicago: University of Chicago, 2012) 9-17.听

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Week 11:听18 October 2022

University Museums: Collecting and Curating听听

Description:听For this seminar we will be visiting the show,听Sentient Paper,听at the Chau Chak Wing Museum. Curator, Dr Shuxia Chen, will talk introduce key objects and curatorial aspects of the exhibition. You will also have the opportunity to engage deeply with the University鈥檚 collection. Following the curator鈥檚 talk is an object-based workshop where you will learn about ways of handling the object and exhibition issues.

Discussion:听What might a university gallery have to offer to the public and to the students? As noted in the reading by Pamela Frank, educational initiatives developed at the gallery can enhance and deepen a student鈥檚 engagement levels whilst at the same time generate meaningful research and scholarship around its collection. How can curatorial design (of objects) take into consideration the pedagogical needs of the students?

Prescribed Reading:听

. [Excerpt] Wen Fong,听Images of the mind: Selections from the Edward L. Elliott family and John B. Elliott collections of Chinese calligraphy and painting at the Art Museum, Princeton University听(Princeton, N.J.: Art Museum, Princeton University in association with Princeton University Press, c1984).

. Clark, John. 鈥淏uilding a collection: Chinese prints at the 爆料王鈥�,听Floating Time, Chinese Prints, 1954-2002,听(Sydney: Power Publications, 2016) 25-36.

Additional Readings:

. Ainger, Susanne.听Guide to museums, galleries and collections at the 爆料王听(Sydney: 爆料王, University News Service, 1989).

. Frank, Pamela. 鈥淎 Twenty-First-Century Teaching Museum: The Expanded Yale University Art Gallery鈥�,听Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin, Teaching with Art,听(2013): 22-37.听

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Week 12:听25 October 2022

Issues of Contemporaneity: Dislocation, Disillusionment and going听鈥�International鈥�

This seminar examines the challenges of making and exhibiting contemporary art in relation to issues of contemporaneity. It will look at the themes of dislocation and disillusionment when considering the obstacles encountered by contemporary artists struggling to enter the international art circuit (especially those residing in provincial towns and villages).听

Discussion:听How are the works by local artists viewed as culturally 鈥榦utside鈥� when they become part of the international art circuit? In what way is international interest in Asian art imbricated within a larger arena of corporate globalization? Discuss this in relation to economic, political and cultural domination; refer closely to key arguments raised by the authors in the readings.听

Prescribed Reading:听

. Hancox, Simone.听鈥�Art, activism and the geopolitical imagination: Ai Weiwei鈥�s听鈥�Sunflower Seeds鈥�,鈥澨�Journal of Media Practice听12, no. 3 (2012): 279-290.听

. Gao, Minglu.听鈥�Changing motivations of Chinese Contemporary art since the mid 1990s,鈥澨�Journal of Visual Art Practice听11, no. 2-3 (2012): 209-219.

Additional Readings:

. Maravillas, Francis.听鈥�Constellations of the contemporary: Art/Asia/Australia,鈥澨�Journal of Australian Studies听32, no. 4 (2008): 433-444.听

. Sambrani, Chaitanya.听鈥�Here, Out There (and Somewhere in Between): Contemporary Art in India,鈥澨�Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art听3, no. 2 (2015): 55-76.听

. Supangkat, Jim.听鈥�Multiculturalism/Multimodernism,鈥� in Apinan Poshyananda, et. al.,听Traditions/Tensions: Contemporary Art in Asia听(New York: Asia Society Galleries, 1996), 70-81.

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Week 13:听1 November 2022

A听Coda: Collecting and Showing 鈥淐ontemporary Asian Art鈥�

This concluding seminar takes stock of all the issues discussed as they are related to the circulation, exhibition and collection of modern and contemporary Asian art both inside and outside of Asia. Museums and galleries in the West struggle to re-consider their acquisition policies and re-think existing collection models in a bid to close the gap in their knowledge of Asian of the past century and to catch up on its present and future developments. One of the problems they faced was the lack of expertise in the field of modern and contemporary Asian art. On the other hand, institutions within Asia have themselves begun building its own collection and developing art historical knowledges.听

Prescribed Readings:

. Chua, Kevin.听鈥溙�Exhibiting Modern Asian Art in Southeast Art,鈥� in听Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art听13, no. 2 (March/April 2014): 105-116.

. Desai, Vishakha N.听鈥�Beyond the听鈥�Authentic-Exotic鈥�: Collecting Contemporary Asian Art in the Twenty-First Century,鈥澨�in Bruce Altshuler, ed.,听Collecting the New: Museums and Contemporary Art听(Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2007), 103-114.

Background Readings:

. Bennett, Tony.听鈥�Exhibition, Difference and the Logic of Culture,鈥� in Karp, Ivan et. al., eds.,听Museum Frictions: Public Cultures/Global Transformations听(Durham: Duke University Press, 2006), 46-69.

. Schoppert, Peter. 鈥淎sia in the 50th Venice Biennale of Art 2003鈥�,听Inter-Asia Cultural Studies听6, no. 1 (Aug 2006): 136-140.

. Clark, John. 鈥淏eyond the National, inside the Global鈥� in Anderson, Jaynie, ed.,听Crossing Cultures: Conflict, Migration and Convergence听[The Proceedings of the 32nd International Congress in the History of Art] (Carlton, Victoria: Melbourne University Press, 2009), 58-59.

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Please also refer to Canvas for a selected additional bibliography.