HIGH TIME FOR ASEAN CONTEMPORARY ART
IT IS HIGH TIME FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS FROM ME EMBER-COUNTRIES OF THE ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST
Asian Nations (ASEAN), including the Philippines, to showcase their art t works, said the head of the country’s arts and culture commission. “We should be able to exhibit what is contemporary in ASEAN,” said National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) chairman and National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario at the opening of “Ties of History: Art in Southeast Asia,” currently on exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. He noted that ASEAN art, as reflected in elements like songs, architechture, weave and textile, could often associated mostly with being “traditional.”
“I would like now the Philippines to experience what is happening to ASEAN when it comes to contemporary art,” hence the exhibit, he added.
He hoped other ASEAN countries would host similar exhibits on a regular basis, in the same manner that the ASEAN chairmanship is rotated among the member-states.
The artworks from 10 contemporary artists from ASEAN displayed in the exhibit still “engages with tradition,” said exhibit curator and University of the Philippines art studies professor Patrick Flores.
The art pieces show “local ecology and tradition displayed in contemporary art.”
He also hoped that the exhibit, to be held for the Àrst time in 0anila, could “contribute to the ongoing conversation about ASEAN.”
The exhibit features works in
various media – sculpture, photography and videography, painting and art installation – by Roberto Feleo from the Philippines, Amanda Heng from Singapore, Anusapati from Indonesia, Do Hoang Tuong from Vietnam, Savandhary Vongpoothorn from Laos, Chris Chong Chan Fui from 0alaysia, -edsada Tangtrakulwong from Thailand, 0in Thein Sung from 0yanmar, Vuth Lyno from Cambodia and <asmin -aidin from Brunei Darussalam.
The artists – who have all exhibited their works at home and in various international art festivals – tackled diͿerent topics and issues like folklore, environment and politics.
The exhibit is simultaneously on at the <uchengco 0useum in 0akati City and at the UP Vargas 0useum in Quezon City and will run until Oct. 6.