In this issue

In ArtAsiaPacific issue 109, we take a look at what can be learned from fluid adaptation and internal resistance, as opposed to outright rejection of institutionalized systems and singular narratives. We spotlight Saudi Arabian artist Ahmed Mater, who was recently appointed executive director of Misk Art Institute. AAP’s Dubai desk editor Kevin Jones asks: “Will the soft-power posturing and cultural-diplomacy of his job curtail or delimit his own artistic practice?” Also in Features, we look at the diverse works of Manila-based Patricia Perez Eustaquio, who has embraced her label as a “feminine artist” while operating outside of restrictive gender structures. In Young and Emerging, we highlight Mari Katayama, Justin Shoulder, Mary Maggic, Behnaz Farahi and Gary Zhexi Zhang, who envision new biologies. Then and Now digs up articles from our Digital Library, while Inside Burger Collection focuses on the text-based creations of Swiss artist Sylvie Fleury. Elsewhere in the magazine, we profile Melbourne-based collector Michael Buxton; artist, curator and activist Jaishri Abichandani; and video artist Hsu Chia-Wei. In Dispatch, independent researcher Fiona Cheng writes of the anti-institutional activism practiced by the artists in Taichung. In The Point, artist Yan Xing laments the overripe topic of “identity.” Multimedia artist and activist Kacey Wong, for One on One, remembers a departed friend who taught him about the emotional nuances of patriotism. In Reviews, we catch Haegue Yang’s midcareer retrospective at Cologne’s Museum Ludwig, as well as other shows around the world. For Where I Work, we visit the studio of Emre Hüner, who blurs the lines between science fiction and archaeology. In Essays, contributor Ben Valentine probes the practice of Cambodian-American choreographer and queer dancer Prumsodun Ok and the reclamation of derogative stereotypes. Together, the articles in 109 suggest that to set ourselves free, we need only rework the structures of the past.

ArtAsiaPacific Magazine Description:

For 20 years, ArtAsiaPacific Magazine has been at the forefront of the powerful creative forces that shape contemporary art from Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East. Covering the latest in contemporary visual culture, ArtAsiaPacific is published 6 times a year in Hong Kong, with editorial desks in 25 countries around the world. Our special annual issue, the ArtAsiaPacific Almanac, published in January, covers the major art events of the past year and forecasts the key trends of the year to come.
The dominant artistic influence in the world today - and for many years to come emanates from the vast territory that lies between Turkey and the Pacific island of Tonga that we call the Asia-Pacific. This territory includes India, China, Japan, Australia, Thailand, Pakistan, New Zealand, Korea and Indonesia, whose combined populations make up an amazing half of the world's total population. Also included are Burma, Cambodia, Kiribati and Uzbekistan - places hitherto overlooked, but which like their gigantic neighbors, are producing cutting-edge art of stunning and unexpected quality.
ArtAsiaPacific is authoritative, accurate, even-handed, exact and essential. Included in each issue is an up-to-date directory of the major galleries, not-for-profit organizations and museums with a focus on contemporary art from our geographical footprint. ArtAsiaPacific offers thoughtful reportage, analysis, comment and criticism to its readers made up of collectors, gallerists, curators, artists and those who want and who need to know the latest developments in the fastest-growing and most astonishing region of the contemporary art world.