Discussion  (3:00 - 4:00 pm)

 "Navigating the Art World: Personal Journeys and Professional Insights"

Time: 3:00 - 3:45 pm + 10 mins Q&A

Speakers: Manish Arora, Hou Hanru and Kalen Lee

Moderator: Michael Whittle

 

An engaging panel discussion that delves into the varied experiences and insights of experts and practitioners in the art world, offering the public and young and emerging artists a comprehensive understanding of the journey through the art industry. The panel will feature Manish Arora, an assistant professor of Applied Arts; Hou Hanru, an art curator and critic, and Kalen Lee, a researcher and art practitioner. The aim is to provide a platform for sharing diverse perspectives, experiences, and advice, contributing to a rich dialogue that benefits aspiring artists.

 

On the second section, Our esteemed panelists, who also serve as judges for the Art Futures Awards, will have the unique opportunity to share their perspectives on the future generation of artists in Asia with their insightful thoughts and visions after reviewing the artworks created by talented fresh graduate artists. This discussion also provides valuable insights into the evolving landscape of art in Asia and the potential pathways for the emerging generation of artists.

 

This panel discussion is envisioned as not just a source of inspiration but also a practical guide, rich with real-world experiences and advice from multiple facets of the art world. It aims to highlight various paths to success and offer young artists a range of ideas and strategies they might consider in their artistic journeys.

 

 

Discussion (4:00 - 5:00 pm)

 "Exploring Cultural Identity and Representation in Contemporary Asian Art" 

Time: 4:00 - 4:45 pm + 10 mins Q&A

Speakers: Zoe Butt, Kurt Chan, Cissie Fu

Moderator: Janet Fong

 

This panel discussion is designed to delve into the theme of cultural identity and representation in contemporary Asian art, a topic of great relevance to young Asian artists. The panel will feature perspectives from Zoe Butt, an international curator and writer; Kurt Chan, an accomplished artist and art educator; and Cissie Fu, the Dean of LASALLE College of the Arts. The aim is to explore how cultural identity is expressed and negotiated in art across Asia, with each panellist bringing their unique insights and experiences to the conversation.

 

On the second section, Our esteemed panelists, who also serve as judges for the Art Futures Awards, will have the unique opportunity to share their perspectives on the future generation of artists in Asia with their insightful thoughts and visions after reviewing the artworks created by talented fresh graduate artists. This discussion also provides valuable insights into the evolving landscape of art in Asia and the potential pathways for the emerging generation of artists.

 

This panel discussion aims to provide young artists with insights into how to meaningfully incorporate their cultural identities into their art and find ways to authentically express their unique cultural narratives in a way that resonates both locally and globally. The conversation is intended to be a rich exchange of ideas, offering varied perspectives on the complexities and nuances of cultural representation in art.

Manish Arora

 

Manish Arora is an assistant professor of Applied Arts/ Visual Communication with over 27 years of teaching experience in this field. he holds the prestigious Raman Post-Doctoral Fellowship for Indian Scholars in the USA at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD under the Singh-Obama 21st century knowledge initiative from the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, India in February 2013. Currently, he is teaching at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi and continuously doing experimented work with Students (UG/ PG/ PhD), through Exhibitions, projects, seminars, conferences etc.

 

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Hou Hanru

 

Hou Hanru (b. 1963, Guangzhou, China) is a Critic and Curator, and former Artistic Director of MAXXI, National Museum of the 21st Century Arts, Rome (2013-2022). From 2006 to 2012 he was Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs und Chair of Exhibition and Museum Studies at the San Francisco Art Institute, 2012 He has curated over 150 exhibitions including biennales-triennales in Johannesburg, Gwangju, Shanghai, Venice, Guangzhou, Istanbul, Lyon, Auckland and Shenzhen. He graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing.

 

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Kalen Lee

 

Kalen Lee is a researcher, practitioner, curator and educator in photography. His artistic practice lies

between conceptual documentary photography, artistic and archival research, contemporary analogue photographic practice and post-photographic practice. His photography projects were exhibited in Austria, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Latvia, South Korea, Taiwan, the UK and the US. His documentary photography project ‘Tsang’s Odyssey’ was selected as a finalist of the WMA Masters Award (16-17, Mobility), Hong Kong; his work Faded is selected as one of the exhibitors of the KG+ SELECT 2019, Kyotographie International Photography Festival, Japan; and his recent project ‘Katharsis’ is selected for the satellite exhibition programme, Hong Kong International Photo Festival.

 

He read history of art at the University of Hong Kong and received an MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, supported by a British Chevening Scholarship. He is the recipient of the Lee Hysan Foundation - ACC Fellowship (2020) awarded by the Asian Cultural Council Hong Kong. He is a visiting researcher at the Centre of the Study of the Networked Image (CSNI), London South Bank University.

 

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Zoe Butt

 

Zoe Butt is a curator and writer, nurturing critical thinking and historically conscious artistic communities, fostering dialogue among cultures of the globalizing souths. Possessing an extensive exhibition, publishing and public-speaking history globally, in 2022, she founded ‘in-tangible institute’, seeking a robust ecology for locally-responsive curatorial talent in Southeast Asia. Zoe holds a PhD in Published Works, the Center for Research and Education in Art and Media, University of Westminster, London and is currently Lead Advisor (Southeast Asia and Oceania), Kadist Art Foundation. Previously she was Artistic Director at Factory Contemporary Arts Centre, Ho Chi Minh City (2017-2021), Executive Director, Sàn Art, Ho Chi Minh City (2009–2016); Director, International Programs, Long March Project, Beijing (2007–2009); Assistant Curator, Contemporary Asian Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane (2001–2007). Notable endeavours include Pollination (2018-); Sharjah Biennial 14: Leaving the Echo Chamber - Journey Beyond the Arrow, (2019); Conscious Realities (2013-2016) and San Art Laboratory (2012-2015). She has been published by Hatje Cantz; JRP-Ringier; Routledge; Sternberg Press, among others and is a MoMA International Curatorial Fellow, NYC; member of Asia Society’s ‘Asia 21’ initiative, NYC; and member of Asian Art Council, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NYC. Zoe lives between Chiang Mai, Ho Chi Minh City and Sydney.

 

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Kurt Chan

 

Prof. Kurt, Chan Yuk Keung graduated from the Department of Fine Arts, at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He then obtained his M.F.A. from the Cranbrook Academy of Art (鶴溪藝術學院), Michigan, U.S.A. Professor Chan joined The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1989, teaching studio courses and supervising M.F.A. students. He was the deputy director of Hong Kong Art School from 2019-2021.

 

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Cissie Fu

 

Cissie Fu is a political theorist and co-founder of the Political Arts Initiative which is interested in how people interact and compose political ideas and actions through technology and the arts. Born in Hong Kong, Cissie studied, taught, curated and performed across cultural and educational institutions in Asia, Europe, the UK, and the Americas and most recently as Dean of the Faculty of Culture and Community at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Canada. With a forthcoming open textbook on cultural production and the law, Cissie is currently completing a monograph on the politics of silence, which draws from artistic practices to resuscitate silence as a positive political concept. Cissie’s practice-led research interests in relational aesthetics and decolonial action, combined with her experiments in experiential and transformative organisational design, inform her approach to institution-building as a creative, critical and communal cultural practice.

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Moderator: Michael Whittle

 

Michael Whittle is a visual artist specialising in art & science collaborations, and Co-initiator of the Art Futures Award. His recent projects include a large-scale installation at the 2022 Changwon Sculpture Biennale, developed in collaboration with astrophysicist David Hathaway of NASA's Ames Research Center. His 2020 project 'Perpetual Motion' explored the biology of movement and memory and was created in consultation with Nobel laureates May-Britt and Edvard Moser at the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience. Michael is also co-founder of the AI-powered creative studio Pollen.

 

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Moderator: Janet Fong

 

Janet Fong Man Yee is Research Assistant Professor at the Academy of Visual Arts (AVA), Hong Kong Baptist University. Before she joined AVA in 2020, she had nearly 25 years of work experience in the contemporary art scene and has worked with many notable organisations including CAFA Art Museum at Central Academy of Fine Arts, Osage (Art Foundation and Gallery), University Museum and Art Gallery at University of Hong Kong, 1a Space, New York Klein Sun Art Project and Moving Art Museum. Since 2011, she has also planned a series of art exhibitions related to scrutiny of the cultural identity of Hong Kong and its changes towards the rest of the world in a contemporary context. A curator since 2005, Janet has curated numerous exhibitions and conferences in Hong Kong, Beijing, New York, Shanghai, Chengdu, Seoul…etc. in the last 15 years