主編語
Editor-in-chief’s Note

Guest Editor-in-chief’s Note

Po-shin, Chan Tsai-yun

Abstract

Viewed from the perspective of recent history, modern art as it developed in the countries of Southeast Asia and in Taiwan (where, broadly speaking, modernization was synonymous with Westernization) consistently shared one salient point of commonality: the process of modernization and the experience of being colonized had a mutually causal relationship and were inextricably linked. The first generations of Taiwanese modern artists learned Western art almost entirely from Japanese instructors living in Taiwan. Many then traveled abroad to Japan, the land of their rulers, for advanced studies. Quite similar experiences are also verified in the modern art histories of such countries as Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar and Vietnam. For example, one institution played a primary role in the development of fine art in Vietnam prior to World War II: the Ecole des beaux-arts de l’Indochine, founded by the French artist Victor Tardieu and the Vietnamese artist Nguyễn Nam Sơn, who had studied at the Ecole nationale superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

The internationa l conference “Southea st Asia and Ta iwan: Modernit y and Postcolonial Manifestations in Visual Art,” held by TFAM in 2015, sparked considerable interest within Taiwan’s art and academic communities. In response, we have designated the subject of that conference as the special theme of this edition of the Journal, in the hope of engendering further discussion and deliberation of this topic.

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Bagyi Aung Soe (1923-1990): Strategies for an Autonomous & Compassionate Artistic Modernity

Yin KER

Assistant Professor, Nanyang Technological University, School of Art, Design & Media

Abstract

Following “The Question of the Emergence of Modern Burmese Art: Kin Maung (Bank)(1908-1983) and Bagyi Aung Soe (1924-1990)” (2014) on the unevenness and plurality of the modern in twentieth-century painting in Myanmar, this essay expands on Aung Soe’s assimilation and innovation of “true modernism” as defined by Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) in reaction to imperialism and colonization, and as implemented by Nandalal Bose (1882-1966) in the pedagogical program of the Viśva-Bhāratī University in Śāntiniketan. Through a selection of Aung Soe’s works and writings from the 1950s to the 1980s, it investigates the strategies he adopted to formulate an artistic modernity aligned with Tagore’s vision of absolute autonomy. The first part probes his constructs of the “modern,” “art” and “artist” that paved the way to a Burmese and modern pictorial idiom founded upon a diversity of artistic traditions in conjunction with ancient spiritual technology. The second part examines how Buddhist thought, practice and imagery next provided him with the means to create “the most advanced of modern art” that is the sum of “all the traditions of the world,” and the final part addresses the implications of this singular conception of artistic modernity with respect to his legacy.

Keywords: Modern Burmese art, Modern Southeast Asian art, Buddhist art, Śāntiniketan, Tagore

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Unspoken Condition: Imagining an Alternative Malaysia Contemporary Art

Chai Chang-hwang

Independent Curator and Researcher

Abstract

As an overview, since the early Nineties, when the local political, economic, cultural policies and governance aspects appeared to be less-regulated, art practitioners had taken the occasion to strive for more social capital with developmental benefits: in Malaysia which lacks planning in both software and hardware infrastructures, such actions embodying autonomous principles began to grow, took root and shaping to a mutual benefits network, namely, independent circle. Clearly, both the pro-active independent initiatives and self-organized alternative spaces could better manifest a diverse, contingent and experimental approaches. However, from the aspect of cultural reproduction, these agents from the new generation stay true to their individual free will, cognitive needs or survival skills, and slide, displace randomly between the mainstream and non-mainstream, creating a different form of production mechanisms (or systems); besides strengthen the independent spirit of the operative subjects, these strategically maneuverings further drive the circle becomes a space of possibilities filled with momentum. This paper aims to analyze the various problems and challenges faced in the progress of the independent circle in the contemporary Malaysian art scene. Both the social/ cultural conditions outside the field, and historical/aesthetic trajectories within the field, are indispensable references that interrelated to the configuration of the interpretative framework.

Keywords: Independent Circle, Independent Initiatives, Alternative Art, Alternative System

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Places: Becoming Artistic Fields

Sandy Hsiu-chih Lo

Independent Curator

Abstract

Using“Sa Sa Art Projects” in Phnom Penh and the Lostgens’ Art Space in Kuala Lumpur as examples, this paper attempts to explore the social practice and knowledge production in South-eastern Asian contemporary art from the perspective of “curating topography”.

The conception of “curating topography” appropriates the cognitive mapping proposed by Fredric Jameson. It tries to endow individual subjectivity by intensifying new sense of place in a global system, and creates new model of representation with complex representational dialectics, in order to enhance the self-positioning accuracy, prove the ability of understanding the world, and represent the imaginative relationship between oneself and the real situation.

Cognitive mapping is related to self-positioning and understanding the world, and “place”is also a way of seeing, knowing and understand the world. If we regard the world as a composition of different places, we can see different matters. Just like what David Harvey has said, “The preservation or construction of a sense of place is then an active moment in the passage from memory to hope, from past to future.” The place is regarded as the foundation of resistance of politics and an important force to fight capitalist commodity f low and monetization. It activates the environment and society by combining local characteristics and recovering collective memories.

Basing on the concept of “curating topography,” the social practice and knowledge production emphasize the “situated knowledge” which is expected to focus on the geographical and cultural specificity instead of universal knowledge; regard audiences as active participants rather than passive viewers; and transform places into becoming artistic fields.

Keywords: curating topography, cognitive mapping, sense of place, situated knowledge, artistic fields

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