Gestures and Acclamations: some assembly required Contextualising curating and exhibtion practices in Southeast Asia for Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong
type: CreativeWork
description: In the last two decades, Southeast Asia has seen the rapid rise and increasing prominence of large scale art fairs as well as 'biennale' style exhibitions. Taking Southeast Asia as the context for studying curatorial practice based in but not exclusive to the region, my doctoral research has worked with the notion of the museum as a colonial remnant; the 'biennale' as an extension of that remnant; the art fair as an economic overhaul of the extended remnant. Available critical literature is used to establish a reading of how curating as a practice is evolving in Southeast Asia. The geopolitical establishment of Southeast Asia lies on the threshold of Modernity, and is synonymous with the post-colonial conditions that helped to identify the art and culture of the region, as specifically characteristic and representative of the region. There are two distinctive arenas in which 'curating' in Southeast Asia has occurred or can occur. The first takes place within institutions against the backdrop of the post colony, with the establishment of museums of the 19th century paradigm; museums as institutions which accumulate cultural artefacts and display these artefacts according to a taxonomy specific to forms of cultural interpretation and exchange. The second takes place outside of institutions, where Southeast Asian curators assume a role in a larger production of global discourse, global communities, global audiences. In Southeast Asia, the presence of indigenous culture and civilisation is sometimes overlooked and disregarded in favour of a larger post-colonial discussion concerning artistic production of the new and modern nation state. This research touches on how acknowledging the weight of civilisation and the recent colonial past does not automatically address a combative resistance in post-colonial critiques; that our artistic products (and the curating of those products for international consumption) should not necessarily disinherit established knowledge of our …
abstract: In the last two decades, Southeast Asia has seen the rapid rise and increasing prominence of large scale art fairs as well as 'biennale' style exhibitions. Taking Southeast Asia as the context for studying curatorial practice based in but not exclusive to the region, my doctoral research has worked with the notion of the museum as a colonial remnant; the 'biennale' as an extension of that remnant; the art fair as an economic overhaul of the extended remnant. Available critical literature is used to establish a reading of how curating as a practice is evolving in Southeast Asia. The geopolitical establishment of Southeast Asia lies on the threshold of Modernity, and is synonymous with the post-colonial conditions that helped to identify the art and culture of the region, as specifically characteristic and representative of the region. There are two distinctive arenas in which 'curating' in Southeast Asia has occurred or can occur. The first takes place within institutions against the backdrop of the post colony, with the establishment of museums of the 19th century paradigm; museums as institutions which accumulate cultural artefacts and display these artefacts according to a taxonomy specific to forms of cultural interpretation and exchange. The second takes place outside of institutions, where Southeast Asian curators assume a role in a larger production of global discourse, global communities, global audiences. In Southeast Asia, the presence of indigenous culture and civilisation is sometimes overlooked and disregarded in favour of a larger post-colonial discussion concerning artistic production of the new and modern nation state. This research touches on how acknowledging the weight of civilisation and the recent colonial past does not automatically address a combative resistance in post-colonial critiques; that our artistic products (and the curating of those products for international consumption) should not necessarily disinherit established knowledge of our …
author: Tan, Bridget Tracy
language: en
keywords: Museum studies, Fine Art
identifier: Tan, Bridget Tracy <https://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/view/creators/Tan=3ABridget_Tracy=3A=3A.html> (2014) Gestures and Acclamations: some assembly required Contextualising curating and exhibtion practices in Southeast Asia for Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong. PhD thesis, University of the Arts London.
date published: 2014
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:00:50Z
provider: University of the Arts London
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of the Arts London