January 11–13, 2018
Hong Kong
Organised by Asia Art Archive in collaboration with The University of Hong Kong, this symposium explores how periodicals have fostered conversations around art and emergent forms of visuality in 20th-century Asia.
Periodicals are exemplary for how they bring technologies of word, image, and print together with notions of aesthetics, practices of viewing, and circuits of dissemination. The adage “modernism began in the magazines” is certainly true for Asia, where print media has been instrumental in taking debates, discourses, and images of art to wide audiences.
Periodicals have been more than just platforms or sites for artistic experimentation and exhibition; they have themselves shaped and staged them. In so doing, periodicals have played a defining role in forming diverse publics for art in Asia.
The papers presented in the symposium explore periodicals in relation to emerging practices that cut across genres, new nomenclatures and aesthetic propositions, verbal and visual manifestos, the production of alternative publics and communities for art, and other topics.
AAA presents a series of talks, discussions, and exhibitions leading up to the symposium. All events are free and open to the public. Sign up to receive updates.
Languages: English and Mandarin, with simultaneous interpretation provided
Keynotes
Charles Esche, Director of Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, and Co-founder of Afterall journal
LI Xianting, Beijing-based Independent Critic and Curator
Speakers
Insoo Cho, Professor, Art Theory Department, School of Visual Arts, Korea National University of Arts
Chiang Poshin, Associate Professor, Department of Art History, Tainan National University of the Arts
Michael Erdman, Curator, Turkish and Turkic Collections, The British Library
Mervin Espina, Program Director, Green Papaya Art Projects, Manila
Samina Iqbal, Assistant Professor, Department of Media Studies, Lahore School of Economics
Naomi Kuromiya, PhD Candidate, Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University, New York
Leung Po-Shan, PhD in Cultural Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Sophia Powers, PhD in Art History, University of California, Los Angeles
Phoebe Scott, Curator, National Gallery Singapore
Wu Mo, PhD Candidate, History of Chinese Art, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hyejong Yoo, art historian, Seoul
Related programmes
Verina Gfader
Residency: December 3–10, 2017
Public talk: Tuesday, December 5, 2017
A Space, Asia Art Archive, 10/F Hollywood Centre, 233 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
The artist, scholar, and editor Verina Gfader speaks about the Italian avant-garde magazine movement of the 1960s to 1970s; the fictions around the sci-fi fanzine Cheap Truth; and the transmission of knowledge through the archive and paper-making.
Exhibitions
December 5, 2017–February 24, 2018
Asia Art Archive Library, 11/F Hollywood Centre, 233 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Asia Art Archive hosts three exhibitions that explore art periodicals in Asia as tools for criticism, historical research, travel writing, and fiction. AAA team members initiated each of these presentations.
Li Xianting’s Contribution to Art Journals in China (1978–2001): Anthony Yung
Somewhere Along the Line: Karthik K. G. in collaboration with Sneha Ragavan
Fantasy of a Dialogue: Nicole Yuen Lai with work by Au Sow-Yee
