The exhibition “Hijrah: In the Footsteps of the Prophet” and the documentary “In the Footsteps of the Beloved” are embracing historical and scientific evidence, signalling a change in Saudi Arabia. I wrote about it for Middle East Monitor.
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![A new show in Tripoli looks at 70 years of Libya’s consumer culture. [Photo By Najlaa Elageli]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/A-new-show-in-Tripoli-looks-at-70-years-of-Libyas-consumer-culture.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&quality=85&strip=all&zoom=1&ssl=1)
Since I started writing about Libya in 2021, I grew more and more interested in the history of the country and how artists and people in the cultural field are retelling the Libyan story.
So clearly I was so excited to learn from curator Najlaa Elageli about this show she put up in Tripoli’s old medina with artists Hadia Gana and Alla Budabbus, called “The Libyan Pantry Project.” I had to write about it!
By the way, this is my 50th piece for Middle East Monitor. What an honour collaborating with them for such a long time!
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My interview with Vietnamese artist Trần Trọng Vũ has just been published on ArtAsiaPacific’s website.
I met the artist for his big show at A2Z gallery in Paris last October, and we did the interview half in French, half in English! Phew! It was fun, and the artist was extremely generous and kind – his work, ça va sans dire, is incredible!
Some of you know that my next cohesive research will be in Vietnam. I will spend one month there, most likely next year, so this interview adds a big piece to my understanding of art coming from the country!
Here is the link to the interview
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While I’m recovering from a very intense and rewarding Singapore art week, an article very dear to my heart has just been published on ArtAsiaPacific’s latest Almanac.
It’s an interview with Burmese artists Nge Lay and Aung Ko about the latest developments in Yangon when both artists were still living there. There is a snippet of the piece online, but you can read in full on the paper edition of the magazine.
Here is the link to the piece online
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“My works stem from personal experiences so naturally whatever’s around me would seep into my works,” says leading Thai artist Pinaree Sanpitak, who I have recently interviewed for Culture360.
With a deep knowledge of materials, as well as a strong conceptual vision, her artworks address motherhood, womanhood, and a deep investigation of the self – often with references to her native Thai culture.
Here is the link to the interview
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My second piece for the Financial Times looks into three independent art spaces in Singapore.
The article is for a special supplement focused on Southeast Asian art, coming out in conjunction with the Singapore Art Week.
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The Financial Times has just published two articles of mine on a special supplement focused on Southeast Asian art, coming out in conjunction with the Singapore Art Week.
In this first piece I highlight the presence of Mynmar art at the art fairs in Singapore this January. It’s part of my ongoing investigation on Myanmar art within the current complicated political scenario of the country
Read More![The third edition of Ramallah Art Fair at Zawyeh Gallery in Ramallah [Instagram/ramallah_artfair]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Untitled-1.png?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&zoom=1&ssl=1)
The first article published this year is about the third edition of an atypical but important art fair that takes place in Ramallah, Palestine.
It’s the second year that I follow tis partly physical partly virtual art fair, and this time I spoke with the fair’s director for Middle East Monitor.
The Italian weekly magazine Internazionale has published my piece “Gli artisti resistono in esilio”, on the Burmese artists working in exile. Once again, I’m humbled and honoured to get the chance to be a vehicle for the voices of Burmese artists, and testify their incredible strenght and resilience.
Here is the link to the piece online
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My series on the behind-the-scenes of arts writers’ lives for Plural Art Mag continues with a conversation with Kim Tay.
Tay is a long-standing founding member and Gallery Director of The Artling, an online gallery, art consulting firm, and web magazine.
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We have read over and over again about the routines of our favourite artists, what time they wake up, and how much time they spend thinking about their art compared to creating works. We have seen pictures of hidden corners in their studios and learnt about their favourite brand of oil paints and their go-to factories to realise installations.
The same goes for curators. We might know the books and theories they reference, and we have become familiar with what drives art collectors. But what is definitely less explored are the joys and sorrows of being an arts writer.
That’s why here at Plural we decided to start a series where we speak with some of the most eloquent arts and culture editors from the region to explore the behind-the-scenes of being a writer.
We kick off the series with Chloe Chu, former Managing Editor at one of the most respected publications in the region and beyond: ArtAsiaPacific (AAP).
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I wrote once again on the Myanmar art scene for the webmagazine Southeastasia Globe. It’s my first collaboration with them, and it was great to put together a piece which included a number of interviews to artists and other figures in the art world such as Chaw Ei Thein, Louis Ho, Moe Satt, Bart Was Not Here, Nathalie Johnston, Ilaria Benini and Richie Nath.
Most of them had to flee the country, but they were able gave me a picture of the developments of the art scene over the last few years, and how these were abruptly stopped by the recent military coup.
