I have written a text for Desmond Mah’s exhibition “Twisted Bodies Tell Their Tales,” from 16th October to 9th November, 2024. The show is part of the 2nd Indian Ocean Craft Triennial 2024 and will take place at Mossenson Galleries, Western Australia.
Find the complete text below
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We kick off the new year with the publication of an interview I did some time ago with ceramic artist Vipoo Srivilasa for CoBo Social. His work explores the similarities between the cultures of his native Thailand and his adoptive home, Australia. Vipoo’s art is playful and profound– as well as being highly collectible.
Here is the link to the interview
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D_Railed magazine has just published my new article called “A New Book On Australian Contemporary Art Foregrounds Questions About Diversity” – the article is based on the polemics about the lack of diversity in the image of Australian art, ensued after the publication of a new book entitled Australiana to Zeitgeist: An A-Z of Australian Contemporary Art (2017). But is Australian contemporary art as white as it seems? And how is it perceived abroad? I address these question in the piece talking with artist Tony Albert, curator Natalie King and Sophia Cai, and of course Melissa Loughnan, the author of the book.
Speaking of books – this is my latest article submitted for July, as I’m devoting August to finish my own book on Singapore Contemporary Art. Since the first of August I have been diving deep into it, getting into a hyper-focused state whether I’m travelling on noisy Neapolitan trains, sitting in quiet Sorrentinian cafès in the garden, in waiting rooms, libraries or at my kitchen table at home. This is an important lesson I have learned from my friend Giovanna – you don’t need to wait the perfect conditions to do the work – just get concentrated, wherever you are. Soon I’ll probably write a post about my new mind state and routine, but for now…
Here is the link to the D_Railed article
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Asian webmagazine and collectors’ platform CoBo has just published my report from Art Stage Singapore 2017 titled “Why Having Less International Galleries at Art Stage Singapore 2017 was Actually a Good Thing”.
As the title suggests, I see the tendency to develop a “glocality” in the art market as generally positive – giving character to art fairs which would otherwise be all lookalikes. The regional features of Art Stage 2017 are far from being a directed by the organizer of Art Stage; it all depended from a series of circumstances that modified the Asian art ecosystem.
I spoke with the present and absent galleries to explain what happened.
Here’s the link to the article
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Global Comment has just published my article titled “It’s not just a cartoon: why satire should come of age”. Writing for Global Comment gives me the chance to get a little bit out of my comfort zone, writing about topics not necessarily related to contemporary art and – like in this case – making reflections and drawing connections to the news of the day.
In this piece I’m referring to the parallel upheavals caused by Charlie Hebdo’s cartoon on the earthquake in Italy and The Australian’s cartoon of the Aboriginal dad. While coming from different contexts, both caused a stir. I’m looking at why this happened, and how satire should take into consideration in a modern, more complex world.
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Arts writer and curator Deianira Tolema – the gal behind Zero Hype Mag – has interviewed me for Art a Part of Cult(ure). She is the best interviewer I could hope for, a talented, committed writer and a kindred spirit in the journey in the contemporary art world – she goes west whereas I go east. In the piece (in Italian) called “Indonesian interferences with a Singaporean aftertaste. Interview to Naima Morelli”, we talk about my start as a writer, my research in Indonesia, Australia and Singapore, and about my book Arte Contemporanea in Indonesia, un’introduzione
Here’s the link to the interview
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Carving out time to work on creative projects doesn’t require an artist’s residency. A staycation is cheaper, simpler and focuses attention where you need it. My new piece “Take a creative staycation” looks at this fascinating trend and has just been published Australian/Uk webmagazine ArtsHub.
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Lovers, friends and family have always been the favourite source of inspiration for artists since the beginning of times. Of course, these involuntary muses are not always happy of being turned into characters of a story, or having their portrait on a gallery wall. This especially if the art deals with intimate, personal and potentially embarrassing themes.
Back in the day the artist could hope the subject matter was unaware of being included in the work. Today though it’s virtually impossible. An image or a review can be infinitely shared on social media. At the same time gallery access is not just for the elites anymore.
I this piece, which has just been published on ArtsHub, I discuss the ethics of including other people’s life in art with artist Geraldine Kang and writer Michele Lee.
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Australian magazine ArtsHub has just published my latest piece where I profile three Australian art professionals who are leaving their mark on the Singapore art scene. These are Ben Hampe, co-founder of Chan Hampe Galleries, Bala Starr from the Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore at LASALLE and artist Belinda Fox. This piece is part of my reportage on contemporary art in Singapore.
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This is a public service announcement (with guitar! As the Clash would say); I’m working on a new book. It will revolve around my research on contemporary art in Singapore and will explore some concepts I started looking at in my previous book, Arte Contemporanea in Indonesia, un’introduzione.
Of course, having a second “baby” might look easier if you already had that kind of experience. But a second book comes with its new challenges. On top of that, I also had an aborted book which still is very much a looming presence. (Should we stop once and for all with these stupid baby metaphors when talking about book projects?)
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When I chose to become a freelance journalist, the possibility of working from everywhere was extremely luring. And I experimented a little with it, especially that couple of years that I was based first in Melbourne, Australia, and then going back and forth between Rome and Sorrento every two weeks. I quickly found out that what I pictured as total freedom, actually required an unusual amount of discipline.
In this piece for ArtsHub I interviewed absolute experts on location independency: writers Shannon O’Donnel of A Little Adrift, Jeannie Mark of Nomadic Chick and artist Veronica Kent. In this sense writing for ArtsHub is fantastic because it gives me the chance to go around and ask questions on matters that I feel pressing. And being a full-time digital nomad is still something I give a lot of thought to.
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Naima Morelli is an arts writer and journalist specialized in contemporary art from Asia-Pacific and the MENA region.
She has written for the Financial Times, Al-Jazeera, The Art Newspaper, ArtAsiaPacific, Internazionale and Il Manifesto, among others, and she is a regular contributor to Plural Art Mag, Middle East Monitor and Middle East Eye as well as writing curatorial texts for galleries.
She is the author of three books on Southeast Asian contemporary art.
Reach out: contact [at] naimamorelli.com
Published! My three-hour-long busking career on Global Comment
“When the day was over, we sat on a bench carved in stone, watching the clouds turn pink and the sea purple. We chatted about everything, from Nietzsche’s Übermensch to that cute waiter trying on me. Being part of Positano’s busking community was paradise, so I figured that in Melbourne it wouldn’t be any different.”
A little story from my personal arsenal, just published by Global Comment. I wish to have the chance to write more stories like this one in the future, alongside the arts writing. It’s really fun!
Here is the link to the piece
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