Visit | Naima Morelli

Published! Interview with Stephanie Fong on CoBo

26-04-2018

English, Interview, Published, Reportage, Research, Singapore, Visit

To Stephanie Fong, founder and director of FOST Gallery in Singapore, the job of a gallerist is not just about selling the art, but rather providing an experience. With an uncontainable passion for culture, as well as an eye for the evolving trends worldwide, Stephanie has become a point of reference in the Lion City’s art scene.

I had the pleasure of talking with Stephanie for CoBo Social during my last visit to Singapore a couple of months ago, and I found he combination of strenght and grace – in both her personality and in the way she runs her business – incredibly inspiring:

“Why are you doing this?” She laughed and replied almost immediately: “I think at the core of it it’s what I’m meant to do. Now looking back at my journey, it all made sense, even though I hadn’t really planned it that way. Maybe it has been all about faith.”

Here is the link to the interview

Published! Stiev Selapak on Art Republik

By: Naima Morelli

14-03-2018

Cambodia, English, Essay, Interview, Published, Reportage, Visit

stievselapak

Little by little parts of my Cambodia research/reportage are coming out in the press: here is a piece on the Phnom Penh-based supergroup Stiev Selapak which has just been published on the Singapore-based art magazine Art Republik. Can’t wait to have the physical copy in my hands!

Here is the link to the article

Published! The Teng Collection at Art Stage 2018

By: Naima Morelli

16-02-2018

English, Review, Singapore, Visit

tengcollection

CoBo has published my review of the Teng Collection at Art Stage 2018. I was very happy to write about the first ever showcase of this outstanding collection, and compelled to learn and reflect on the ethos who is driving the collectors.

This piece actually came out last week but I didn’t post it immediately on the blog because in these past few days I have been busy running around Phnom Penh to collect interviews for my current reportage on Cambodian contemporary art. But here you go, you can read it at the link below.

Here is the link to the review

Pics from my art talk at Kon Len Khnhom

By: Naima Morelli

11-02-2018

Cambodia, English, News, Photostory, Reportage, Research, Visit

talk7
What a nice evening at Kon Len Khnhom, the contemporary art space run in Phnom Penh, Cambodia by art manager Meta Moeng! It was great to finally see the space in person after hearing so much about it; this is a traditional Khmer house tucked in a small alley right in the city center, where they held residences, events and do projects with students.

Yesterday night I held a talk talking about my experience researching emerging art scenes, from Indonesia to Singapore, and I discussed with the audience about the features of the Cambodian contemporary art scene and the local art market. The atmosphere was so nice and cozy and elicited reflections; really my jam! Below some pictures from the night.

THE SINGAPORE SERIES – CHAPTER 10

By: Naima Morelli

07-01-2018

Essay, Reportage, Research, Singapore, Singapore Series, Visit

Audience anxiety

In 2017, I visited a show a of late ceramic artist called Iskander Jalil, in dialogue with the young Singaporean artist Gerald Leow at the National Gallery of Singapore. Gerald’s day job was set design, and it showed from his intervention in the show, which was very subtle. He built a metal structure evoking the traditional house of Inskandar with a simple metal outline. I was looking forward to seeing the show since the artist mentioned that he was doing research from it in our first interview, and I peered out curiously into the room. Before I had the chance to set foot inside, the gallery sitter, gentle as ever, handed me a flyer: “Please find here some information about the show. You will find also the interview of the curator with Gerald Leow and some information about the content of the show. Please proceed to your left to see the exhibition.” Being a Neapolitan, so a rule-breaker by nature, I was about to blurt out: “Well, what if I want to start from the right?” After all, there was no chronology intended in the work, and there were no other people in room. But instead, I shut up and remembered where I was. And yes, I was in a place where the so-called audience anxiety was real.

Published! Review of Home Beirut at MAXXI for Memo

By: Naima Morelli

22-11-2017

English, Middle East, Published, Review, Visit

Beirut

I feel today the MAXXI Museum in Rome is the one contemporary art institution who is really nailing it in the Eternal City. The multifaceted and highly political show “Home Beirut: Sounding the Neighbors” is proof of that. The exhibition focuses on Beirut artists representing city’s development and destiny, and introducing the local artistic scene to a European public.

This show is the third chapter of the “Mediterranean Trilogy” through which the MAXXI has been examining the interaction between the artistic communities of Europe and the Middle East. The aim is prompting the birth of a new trans-Mediterranean culture, critically important for the global landscape of artistic creation.

The show presented 30 artists, architects, filmmakers, musicians, dancers, researchers, activists negotiating between critical reflections of recent history of conflicts, through archiving and re-enacting memories, and prospection of the future, through attempts of urban transformation and global outreaching.

Here is the link to the review

Published! Bureaucracy and Singaporean artists on CoBo

By: Naima Morelli

10-10-2017

English, Essay, Published, Reportage, Research, Singapore, Visit

Bureaucracy

CoBo has just published my new piece titled “5 Singaporean artists working with the theme of Bureaucracy”. Researching the Singaporean art system and the artists’ practice, I noticed the emergence of this set of preoccupations with organisation, repetition, boredom, archiving, censorship, procedures, rules – which definitely dismantles the romantic idea of the artist as we conceived it. Bureaucracy is so pervasive in society such as the Singaporean one, that becomes not only a conditio sine qua non for art to be happening, but also a subject in itself to reflect on. This article features artists Jack Tan, Terry Wee, Zihan Loo, Lim Tzay-Chuen and Lai Yu Tong.

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Interview with Audrey Yeo on CoBo

By: Naima Morelli

11-09-2017

English, Interview, Published, Reportage, Research, Singapore, Visit

audrey_yeo

CoBo has just published my interview with gallerist Audrey Yeo, director of Yeo Workshop in Singapore. I realized the interview a few months ago and it was greatly inspiring to talk with such an important igniter of the Singaporean art scene.

Here is the link to the interview

Published! Sopheap Pich at Venice Biennale on CoBo

By: Naima Morelli

24-06-2017

Cambodia, Essay, News, Published, United States, Visit

pich

Cambodian artist Sopheap Pich is part of the show “Viva Arte Viva” by Christine Macel at the Venice Biennale. In this piece for CoBo – part of my report on this year’s Venice Biennale retrace the artistic vision of Pich to better understand how to look at his work in this international avenue.

Here’s the link to the piece

Published! Interview with Lani Maestro on CoBo

By: Naima Morelli

21-06-2017

Interview, Philippines, Published, Visit

Even though I have been quite critical of this Venice Biennale as a whole, I still love many of the artists who have exhibited both in the show and in the national pavilions. Lani Maestro, representing Philippines together with Manuel Ocampo, is definitely a favourite. I have been mesmerized by her capacity to unleash the evocative power of language through her neon installations. Cobo has published my interview with her, with the title: “Language Subverting Violence: Lani Maestro at Venice Biennale 2017”.

Here’s the link to the interview

Published! Southeast Asian Pavilions at the 2017 Venice Biennale

By: Naima Morelli

01-06-2017

English, Essay, Indonesia, Italy, Published, Review, Singapore, Visit

seavenicebiennale2017

Here is my piece for CoBo on the Southeast Asian Pavilions at the Venice Biennale. This piece wasn’t easy to write and I have been quite critical – something I don’t usually like to be. But this Biennale really called for criticism, the way I see it.

Here’s the link to the piece

Published! Interview with Sinta Tantra on CoBo

By: Naima Morelli

18-05-2017

English, Europe, Indonesia, Interview, Italy, Published, Visit

SintaTantra

CoBo has just published my interview with British/Indonesian artist Sinta Tantra, who I visited at her studio at the British School in Rome, where she is doing a residency. As always, every interview is a chance to learn something and often times the words of artists resonate powerfully with my own life.

Here is the link to the interview

Naima Morelli

Published! Stiev Selapak on Art Republik

Published! The Teng Collection at Art Stage 2018

Pics from my art talk at Kon Len Khnhom

THE SINGAPORE SERIES – CHAPTER 10

Published! Review of Home Beirut at MAXXI for Memo

Published! Bureaucracy and Singaporean artists on CoBo

Published! Interview with Audrey Yeo on CoBo

Published! Sopheap Pich at Venice Biennale on CoBo

Published! Southeast Asian Pavilions at the 2017 Venice Biennale

Published! Interview with Sinta Tantra on CoBo

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