ArtAsiaPacific Magazine - May/June 2024

In this issue

For our cover feature, we speak with Los Angeles-based Kang Seung Lee about his practice of investigating cultural figures whose lives were neglected by the mainstream narratives of history. In our second feature, we interview Manal AlDowayan about her long history of working with the collective memory of women in Saudi Arabia, and her participatory workshops in the run-up to her representation at the Venice Biennale. In our final feature, Philippe Parreno discusses the complex phenomenon underpinning his exhibition at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul, and his construction of a 13.6-meter tower that houses a virtual, bodiless character in the process of developing its own language. For Up Close, we spotlight a recent film installation by Amar Kanwar, The Peacock’s Graveyard (2023); Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti’s Concrete Tent (2015/23) in Sharjah; and Abiding Nowhere (2024), the latest feature film directed by Tsai Ming-liang. Our Profiles this issue look at two artists representing their countries in Venice: Gülsün Karamustafa (Türkiye Pavilion) Mark Salvatus (Philippine Pavilion), while in New Currents we explore the emerging video-based practice of two Venice Biennale participants, Charmaine Poh from Singapore, and Aziza Kadyri, whose collective, Qizlar, is representing Uzbekistan. We also discover new paintings by the Indonesian artist Roby Dwi Antono. In Essays, Hutch Wilco recounts his experiences of embarking on a preparatory visit with fellow curators to the desiccated Aral Sea for the still-pending Aral Culture Summit in Uzbekistan. Our Reviews span from the 24th Biennale of Sydney to Los Angeles, covering major exhibitions in Tokyo and London, as well as solo showcases of leading artists in Hong Kong, Singapore, Mumbai, and New York. Finally, for Where I Work, we visit the plant-filled Hong Kong studio of IV Chan, whose fabric sculptures and performance works explore themes of motherhood, interfamily relationships, and corporeality.