Climate Futures #1: Cultures, Climate Crisis and Disappearing Ecologies

The three-day conference Climate Futures #1: Cultures, Climate Crisis and Disappearing Ecologies, held in Jakarta, a capital city severely impacted by climate change, addresses the various relationships and links to the environment, its ecologies and biodiversity. To better understand the decline in cultural and ecological diversity across Southeast Asia, NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore, in partnership with KONNECT ASEAN, examines how the endangerment of traditional cultures and knowledges, in the face of ecological challenges, affects the region.

Environmental transformations change ancestral relationships to its surrounding ecologies, as colonial pasts coupled with contemporary forms of exploitative economies continue to bring about the extinction of spiritual and indigenous ecosystems. The irreducible oneness of nature and culture, human and non-human at the heart of indigenous philosophies, is increasingly at stake. The loss of habitat and ecosystems takes away a community’s kin, its identity, belonging and dignity, deeply impacting future generations to come as communities feel more and more threatened in their collective capacity to thrive and survive. Climate Futures #1 maps how the climate crisis informs our contemporary world, and how diverse cultures can adjust or adapt without losing a sense of purpose. Presentations will unpack processes of historical, social, geopolitical, economic, and environmental backgrounds. Discussions will comprise of alternative approaches to Southeast Asian studies focusing on urgencies in the region and their impact on natural resources with contributions by artist Martha Atienza and MA Student and Graduate Assistant at University of Hawai’i Jake Atienza (both Philippines); artists Irwan Ahmett and Tita Salina (both Indonesia); artist Lêna Bùi (Vietnam); artist Cian Dairit (Philippines); Struggles for Sovereignty’s Eliesta Handitya and Shilfina Putri Widatama (both Indonesia); curator Hyunjin Kim (Korea); director of Yayasan Peta Bencana Nashin Mahtani (Indonesia); artist Zarina Muhamad (Singapore); curator Ignatia Nilu (Indonesia); Chief Executive facilitator Forever Sabah Institute, and LEAP Cynthia Ong (Malaysia); curator, writer, art critic Dr. Marian Pastor Roces (Philippines); Lecturer, Southeast Asian Studies, NUS Dr. Serina Rahman (Malaysia); artist Jang Elroy Ramantan (Brunei); artist Sao Sreymao (Cambodia); co-founder and Executive Director, Rujak Center for Urban Studies Elisa Sutanudjaja (Indonesia); lawyer, producer curator, and creative director, Philip Huan Dr. Chomwan Weeraworawit(Thailand); and artist Yee I-Lann (Malaysia).

Conceived by Professor Ute Meta Bauer, founding director and Magdalena Magiera, curator and research associate , NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore. In partnership with KONNECT ASEAN and support of Goethe-Institut Singapore and Jakarta.

NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore (NTU CCA Singapore)
A national research centre of Nanyang Technological University Singapore, with a focus on Spaces of the Curatorial, addressing the urgencies of our time such as the climate crisis and its impact on communitites. A leading international art institution, driven by dynamic thinking in its three-fold constellation: Residencies, Research and Academic Education and Exhibitions. It brings forth innovative, multi-disciplinary, holistic and experimental forms of emergent artistic and curatorial practices that intersect the present and histories of contemporary art embedded in social, geo-political, geo-cultural spheres with other fields of knowledge. NTU CCA Singapore’s office and research centre is located at Gilman Barracks.

KONNECT ASEAN
The Republic of Korea celebrated 30 years of diplomatic relations with ASEAN in 2019. In the same year the ASEAN-Korea Cooperation Fund (AKCF) supported KONNECT ASEAN—An ASEAN-Korea Arts Programme. Administered by the ASEAN Foundation, KONNECT ASEAN signals both an eagerness by ASEAN to revitalise its once integral role in contemporary visual arts and the Republic of Korea’s sincerity in establishing closer ties with ASEAN.

Goethe-Institut Singapore and Jakarta
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.

View the livestream here.