Acts of Life: A Critical Research Residency

Acts of Life is a critical research residency initiated by NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore (NTU CCA Singapore) and the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) in Manila with the support of the Goethe-Institutes in Singapore and Manila.

After an open call with an overwhelming response of 180 international applicants, 16 artists, writers, theorists from the region and Germany have been selected by an international curatorial board to participate in a month-long residency in Manila and Singapore. The programme of the Critical Research Residency is driven by the interdisciplinary research question of how two distinct urban contexts in Southeast Asia are impacted by digital technologies and how these developments change human perception of the entanglements of urbanism, nature, and culture. Working from within the spatial-temporal localities of Southeast Asia itself, Acts of Life is strategically positioned to unpack the many complexities existing within recently-popularised tropes of Asian futurity perpetuated across various channels. In this way, a space for experimental thinking is created in which resistance and resilience to our challenging time is tested as new skills are learned.

Participants: Michaela Büsse (Germany), Buen Calubayan (Philippines), Hung Duong (Vietnam), Jayson C. Jimenez (Philippines), Stanya Kahn (United States) and Miljohn Ruperto (Philippines), Jennifer Katanyoutanant (Thailand), Charmaine Koh (Singapore), Phuong Phan (Vietnam), Ida Roscher (Germany), Stefan Römer (Germany), Roopesh Sitharan (Malaysia), Nuriye Tohermes (Germany), Tromarama (Indonesia).

Curatorial Board: Ute Meta Bauer, Founding Director, NTU CCA Singapore and Professor, School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), María Joselina Cruz, Director & Curator, MCAD Manila,  Patrick D. Flores, Professor, Department of Art Studies, University of Philippines and Curator, Vargas Museum Manila, Sophie Goltz, Deputy Director, Research & Academic Programmes, NTU CCA Singapore and Assistant Professor, School of Art, Design and Media, NTU, Khim Ong, Deputy Director, Curatorial Programmes, NTU CCA Singapore.

Acts of Life: Public Programme 
At the heart of the programme is a commitment to critical research of the rapidly changing landscape of the current geological age, brought on by the rampant urbanisation and digitisation of contemporary, (post-) human life. Materialised articulations of proposed researches in Singapore and Manila show artistic thinking in progress and are an encounter with how a research residency unfolds: through the fostering of intellectual dialogue, shared lines of enquiry, and the initiation of potential public discourse around the intersections between art, science, and technology.

Open Studio
Friday, January 25, 2019, 7–11pm
Saturday, January 26, 2019, 2–7pm

Buen Calubayan (Philippines), Jayson C. Jimenez (Philippines), Stanya Kahn (United States) and Miljohn Ruperto (Philippines), Charmaine Koh (Singapore), Stefan Römer (Germany), Ida Roscher (Germany), Roopesh Sitharan (Malaysia), and Tromarama (Indonesia)

Gillman Barracks, Block 38 Malan Road #01-05, Singapore 109441

In parallel with NTU CCA Singapore Residencies OPEN.

Performance
Friday, January 25, 2019, 9–10pm
Black Swans, Butterflies and Elephants
Lecture-performance by Jayson C. Jimenez and Ida Roscher

Gillman Barracks, Block 38 Malan Road #01-05, Singapore 109441

Conversation
Saturday, 26 January 2019, 2–3pm
Go Green or Nature Sells?
With Phuong Phan and Dr Chang Jiat Hwee (Singapore), Associate Professor, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore, with reference to the NTU CCA Singapore exhibition Quadra Medicinale Singapore by Jef Geys (till 3 March 2019)

Gillman Barracks, Block 43 Malan Road, The Exhibition Hall, Singapore 109443

Workshop
Saturday, January 26, 2019, 4–6pm
Sensing the World
By Buen Calubayan in collaboration with Deo Briones (Philippines), musician and facilitator

Gillman Barracks, Block 43 Malan Road, The Seminar Room, Singapore 109443

The public programme in Manila will take place from February 21 to 24, 2019.

For more information on Acts of Life, please visit www.goethe.de/actsoflife.

For more information on NTU CCA Singapore Residencies OPEN featuring Francisco Camacho Herrera (Colombia/Netherlands), Daniel Hui (Singapore/United States), Soyo Lee (South Korea), John Low (Singapore), Tan Kai Syng (Singapore/United Kingdom), John Torres (Philippines), please visit http://ntu.ccasingapore.org/residencies/

NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore
Located in Gillman Barracks, the NTU CCA Singapore is a national research centre of Nanyang Technological University. The Centre positions itself as a space for critical discourse and encourages new ways of thinking about Spaces of the Curatorial in Southeast Asia and beyond.

Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Manila
As part of the artistic community of the De La Salle — College of Saint Benilde’s School of Design and Arts, MCAD offers the experience of and exposure to contemporary art and its various publics, with a focus on Manila, Philippines, as context, through the formats of its art exhibitions and public programmes.

Goethe-Institut Singapore and Manila
The Goethe-Institut is the cultural institute of the Federal Republic of Germany with a global reach. It promotes knowledge of the German language abroad and fosters international cultural cooperation. Its interdisciplinary work brings together people from different disciplines, cultures, and countries.