This public conversation will address the possibilities and uncertainties faced by societies within and beyond the boundaries of Southeast Asia, focusing on the notion of national representation and its challenges: How are geopolitical boundaries configured and rewritten in the specific context of the Biennale di Venezia, and what visibility and forms of acknowledgement can such a platform offer to younger nation-states and new or imagined political entities? Such questions will be explored through a focus on three Southeast Asian countries participating in the Biennale Arte 2015: Singapore, The Philippines, and Indonesia. The conversation will extend the discussion to the presentations of Hong Kong, India & Pakistan, and Tuvalu in this year’s edition of the Biennale. In the format of a structured conversation rather than a presentation on stage this event invites those interested and invested in the topic to take part in this open debate.

The Geopolitical and the Biophysical: a structured conversation on Art and Southeast Asia in context is conceived as an extension to Charles Lim’s SEA STATE project presented at the Singapore Pavilion and is in response to Okwui Enwezor’s curatorial theme for the 56th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia: All the World’s Futures. It is organised by the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore (NTU CCA Singapore) under its Research & Education programme, which aims to connect academic research with other forms of knowledge production. 

The programme is commissioned by the National Arts Council of Singapore (NAC) and supported by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).

4 - 5 pm: Session 1
Carla Bianpoen, Independent Writer & Journalist and Advisor & Curatorial Team Member, Indonesia Pavilion, Voyage – Trokomod 
Heri Dono, Artist, Indonesia Pavilion, Voyage – Trokomod 
Charles Lim, Artist, Singapore Pavilion, SEA STATE
Mariano G. Montelibano III, Artist, The Philippine Pavilion, Tie a String Around the World
Jose Tence Ruiz, Artist, The Philippine Pavilion, Tie a String Around the World 
Eugene Tan, Director, National Gallery Singapore and Co-Chair of Commissioning Panel, Singapore Pavilion, SEA STATE

5.30 - 6.30 pm: Session 2
Thomas J. Berghuis, The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Curator of Chinese Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Curator, Tuvalu Pavilion, Crossing the Tide
Doryun Chong, Chief Curator, M+ Hong Kong and Curator, Tsang Kin-Wah: The Infinite Nothing, Hong Kong in Venice
Patrick D. Flores, Professor of Art Studies, University of the Philippines and Curator, The Philippine Pavilion, Tie a String Around the World
Natasha Ginwala, Independent Curator & Writer and Curatorial Advisor & Public Programmes Curator, My East is Your West 
Vincent J.F. Huang, Artist, Tuvalu Pavilion, Crossing the Tide 
Shabbir Hussain Mustafa, Curator, National Gallery Singapore and Curator, Singapore Pavilion, SEA STATE

Moderated by Ute Meta Bauer, Founding Director of the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore and Lee Weng Choy, Independent Art Critic and President of the Singapore Section of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA).

The public conversation, The Geopolitical and the Biophysical: A structured conversation on Art and Southeast Asia in context, will continue in Singapore and expand upon the conversation in Venice.

Venue
Palazzo Franchetti
Sala del Portego Conference Room
2847, Campo S. Stefano,
S. Marco, 30124, Venezia, Italy