No Country: Contemporary Art For South and Southeast Asia
January 2014 Public Programs
Asia Society Hong Kong Center
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Former Explosives Magazine
9 Justice Admiralty
Hong Kong
T +852 2103 9511
F +852 2877 5343
asiasociety.org/hong-kong
guggenheim.org/MAP
“By considering and presenting these cultures, their representations, and the identities of their peoples as a continuous horizon rather than as defined by the discrete nation-states of contemporary formulation, No Country proposes an understanding of the region in terms of relationships of intermingling and mutual influence past and present, within and beyond the region.”
–June Yap, Guggenheim UBS MAP Curator, South and Southeast Asia
In conjunction with the presentation of No Country: Contemporary Art for South and Southeast Asia, the inaugural touring exhibition of the Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative, on view at Asia Society Hong Kong Center until February 16, 2014, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is pleased to highlight the upcoming Public Programs and other recently launched education resources.
Continuous Horizons
Saturday, January 11
Asia Society Hong Kong Center will host a daylong symposium to augment and contextualize viewers’ experience of the No Country exhibition. Featuring contemporary work by 13 artists from Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, No Country presents some of the most compelling and inventive art being made in South and Southeast Asia today.
Continuous Horizons: Contemporary Art for Asia brings together scholars, curators, and artists to address the region’s complex historical, political, and social entanglements through the medium of contemporary art. Participants include Pandit Chanrochanakit, Doryun Chong, Parul Dave-Mukherji, Chiara Formichi, Joel Kwong, Firoz Mahmoud, Naoki Sakai, and June Yap. This program of short talks and lively conversations will be convened by Ming Tiampo, associate professor of art history, Carleton University. For complete symposium information including registration and tickets, please visit asiasociety.org/hong-kong.
In a Grain of Rice: Food and Culture for South and Southeast Asia, a two-part program
Sunday, January 12
In a Grain of Rice: Food and Culture for South and Southeast Asia uses rice as a starting point, gathering scholars, artists, writers, and culinary experts to take a sociocultural look at food as a medium that connects all of Asia. Part I includes topical presentations by food writers, culinary experts, and rice specialists from the region, including Daisy Tam, Yoshiko Nakano, Michael Leung, and Sidney Cheung. Part II features a rice tasting station, a South and Southeast Asian food showcase, and cooking demonstrations. Of particular note is the demonstration led by artist Roslisham Ismail of a dish drawn from his artist’s book The Langusaka Cookbook, which records disappearing community arts and culture. For additional information, please visit asiasociety.org/hong-kong.
Speakers
Continuous Horizons:
Pandit Chanrochanakit is a Lecturer at the Faculty of Political Science, Ramkhamhaeng University.
Doryun Chong joined Hong Kong’s M+, West Kowloon Cultural District Authority in September 2013 as Chief Curator.
Chiara Formichi is Associate Director of the Southeast Asia Research Centre (SEARC) and Assistant Professor in History and Religions at the Department of Asian and International Studies, City University of Hong Kong.
Joel Kwong is the Programme Director of Microwave International New Media Arts Festival and manager of Input/Output Gallery, Hong Kong.
Firoz Mahmud is an interdisciplinary artist born in Khulna, Bangladesh, working in New York and Tokyo.
Parul Dave Mukherji is the Dean at the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Naoki Sakai teaches in the departments of Comparative Literature and Asian Studies at Cornell University.
Ming Tiampo is Associate Professor of Art History at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
June Yap was selected as Guggenheim UBS MAP Curator, South and Southeast Asia, in 2012.
In A Grain of Rice:
Tony Cheng is CEO and Founder of Drawing Room Concepts.
Sidney Cheung is Chairperson and Professor of the Department of Anthropology, Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Rochie Cuevas is Post-doctoral Fellow at the Grain Quality and Nutrition Center and Postharvest Center, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
Peter Cuong Franklin is Executive Chef and Partner of Chôm Chôm.
Michael Leung is an artist, storyteller, beekeeper, eco-socio provocateur, archivist, and lover of Hong Kong.
Yoshiko Nakano is Associate Professor in the Department of Japanese Studies at the University of Hong Kong.
Daisy Tam is Research Assistant Professor at the Department of Humanities and Creative Writing, Hong Kong Baptist University.
Education and resources
Watch two recent talks by No Country artists Khadim Ali and Tayeba Begum Lipi about their creative development. Works by Ali and Lipi are on view as part of No Country at Asia Society Hong Kong Center. Visit the MAP website to discover more about all of the artists featured in the exhibition and browse behind-the-scenes photos, interviews, and videos about their practices, personal experiences, and cultural heritage.
In preparation for the second Guggenheim UBS MAP exhibition, which will focus on Latin American contemporary art, Pablo León de la Barra, Guggenheim UBS MAP Curator, Latin America, has been visiting artists’ studios, museums, and galleries in the region. Learn more about his travels through his photo essays from Guatemala and Costa Rica, with additional entries in his Dispatches series to follow.
About Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative
The Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative is a multi-year cross-cultural collaboration in support of art, artists, and curatorial talent from South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East and North Africa, featuring curatorial residencies, acquisitions for the Guggenheim’s collection, international touring exhibitions, and extensive audience-driven educational programming. Learn more at guggenheim.org/map.
