Language | Naima Morelli

Published! Interview with Thanom Chapakdee

19-06-2019

English, Interview, News, Published, Reportage, Research, Thailand

Thanom

Culture360, the webmagazine of the Asia-Europe Foundation, has just published my interview with one of the most forward-thinking and controversial art critic, arts writer and artist in the Thai art scene, Thanom Chapakdee.

This article is part of the reportage Roberto D’Onorio and I conducted in Thailand at the beginning of 2019. We interviewed cultural practitioners in the Thai art scene and learned about the different practices and power structures of the Thai art system. Here is to you an authoritative voice telling his side of the story.

Here is the link to the interview

Published: Interview with Torlarp Larpjaroensook

By: Naima Morelli

12-06-2019

English, Published, Reportage, Research, Thailand, Visit

Torlarp
More from my reportage on Thai contemporary. This piece, just published by CoBo, is an interview to Chiang Mai artist Torlarp Larpjaroensook, owner of Seescape Gallery. I have really great admiration for this self-made-man, and of course self-made-artist, who is all about the community.

And as a side note, I started doing this job, arts writing, more than 10 years ago now. And yet, every time an article of mine is published, I’m still so thrilled and grateful. The interviews, the chance to ask questions, the artworks, the artists, the magazines I write for and my incredible editors, the people I met, the people I traveled with, the chance to explore the world, to learn about it through its artists, the impressions, the learning, the struggles and still being here to tell tale.

I feel incredible blessed to live this life, doing this job. Hopefully some glimmer of the bliss, both mine and the one of Torlarp’s, will transpire through the lines.

Here is the link of the interview

THE SINGAPORE SERIES – CHAPTER 32

By: Naima Morelli

10-06-2019

English, Interview, Reportage, Research, Singapore, Singapore Series

Donna Ong

Part of the charm of the forest is that it is supposed to be dangerous and mysterious. In this way you can still appreciate it but in a safe way. It’s an interesting metaphor about what is happening in Singapore. In the first chapter we have already talked about the work of Donna Ong in respect to the idea of tropical nature. We looked at “The Forest Speaks Back” which explored the idea of the tropics, by conveying two different points of view: that of the colonisers, and those of natives. Donna is interested in how the narrative for nature in Singapore has changed and evolved: “I think previously there was a lot of emphasis on the Garden City, so we had tropical nature but made it into a garden. A tamed tropical garden rather than a forest.”

Talk on Thai contemporary art at UNINT Speech

By: Naima Morelli

28-05-2019

English, News, Photostory, Reportage, Research

talk1

Last Friday Roberto D’Onorio and I gave a talk at UNINT Speech – a new platform for talks of the Università degli Studi Internazionali di Roma.

It was an honour to speak at this University, which is preparing the interpreters and translators of the new generation. We tried to give our fair share of contribution in proving students with our own knowledge of today’s complex and interconnected world through contemporary art.

Published! Panya Projects on Culture360

By: Naima Morelli

22-05-2019

English, Published, Research, Thailand

PanyaProjects

“We see the amazing and essential potential of humanity and we work to contribute to it. I’m done fighting against. I’m up to build the world we want to see.”

Interviewing Panya Project’s founder Christian Shearer for ASEF Culture360 made me consider different possibilities for the future of our planet.

We delved into alternative living, alternative agriculture, alternative community and even alternative economy. I believe you will find it interesting as well.

Here is the link to the interview

2019 Venice Biennale on Middle East Monitor

By: Naima Morelli

14-05-2019

English, Essay, Indonesia, Middle East, Published, Review

VeniceBiennale2019
The 2019 Venice Biennale has asked artists to step into the socio-political realm, in the middle of far-right Matteo Salvini’s Italy. And they have done it, dismantling Orientalism and getting the Mediterranean closer together in the process.

My first article on this 2019 Venice Biennale has just been published by Middle East Monitor.

Here is the link to the article

THE SINGAPORE SERIES – CHAPTER 27

By: Naima Morelli

06-05-2019

English, Interview, Reportage, Research, Singapore, Singapore Series, Visit

cover27

The work of Geraldine Kang

For Geraldine Kang, art-making has the functions of helping her process her thoughts and feelings and to get herself out of her head. In the awarded series ‘In the Raw’, she depicted her family members in surreal situations dealing with nudity, aging and death. The artist defines In the Raw as a “shock treatment” to introduce her parents to her art practice, which in the beginning they didn’t understand. In an iconic picture of her series, she is in bed with her parents, just like a little child would do, but with a photographic book showing breasts. The photographs encapsulate the lack of intimacy and the difficulty of maturing and dealing with desire where you share the same living space with your family.

The Singapore Series – chapter 26

By: Naima Morelli

29-04-2019

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

How space influences the art

The visitors of the Louvre museum are often upset when they see the Monalisa for the first time. Most of them, seeing it on catalogues, posters and mugs alike, they imagine it to be much bigger. Indeed, bigger than life. In a world where art and art history is experienced through the internet and catalogues, and perhaps less in real life, the size of an artwork is something that counts when it comes to the art market, but it is not really an indicator for art critics. And yet, if we take a sociological look on art, we come to realise that the size of a work tells us volumes about the conditions in which the artist works: it informs about the modes and the values of an entire art system. As mundane as it is, practical circumstances end up weighting on the final artwork more than we would like to think. Contemporary art is seldom made in poetic studios in warehouses, although in some countries that is the norm. In many other places it is done in subscales, a bedroom in your parent’s house or in tiny rented studio-apartments.

The Singapore Series – Chapter 24

By: Naima Morelli

15-04-2019

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

URBAN/NATURE

In this book, I used opposite categories not as parallel dichotomies or binaries that never touch each other, but rather as two extremes of a spectrum. This also goes for one of the core themes that many Singaporean artists measure themselves with: that of the urban space and the natural space. Again, we will examine the matter from different angles. At the level of the artwork, city and nature are themes many artists muse on. Then we will look at the space itself and the way the physical structure and size of artist studios, art spaces, galleries, houses and where they are located in the city have an effect on the art production. On top of that, we will look at the idea of nature as a way to go – quite literally – back to the roots. Indeed, the attitudes of Singaporeans towards nature and art are very similar, so it is almost inevitable to draw parallels. As something that is supposed to grow organically and spontaneously, art has always been seen as something “natural” to humans. This goes for the whole art ecosystem. Precisely an ecosystem, as we can’t help using a nature-related terminology here.

Published! Interview with Manit Sriwanichpoom on CoBo

By: Naima Morelli

10-04-2019

English, Interview, Published, Reportage, Research, Thailand, Visit

Manit
It has been more than 10 years now I have started to see my articles published on magazines, and I’m still full of joy and wonder every time one is out. Especially if they are particularly satisfying conversations, like this one with none other than the great Thai artist Manit Sriwanichpoom.

The piece has just been published on CoBo Social it is also linked with the webmagazine’s current focus on Art and Politics. This article is part of my reportage on the Thai contemporary art scene I completed a month ago.

Here is the link to the interview

THE SINGAPORE SERIES — CHAPTER 23

By: Naima Morelli

08-04-2019

English, Interview, Reportage, Research, Singapore, Singapore Series

Ruben Pang

“Wait! Is it allowed to talk about incest on the Singapore metro?” I abruptly asked with an alarmed note in my voice to the scrawny guy in front of me, holding onto the bar of the red line. I looked for a reaction in the faces of the people on the metro. Nothing. Someone told me that Singaporeans don’t complain to your face. In their heads though, they had probably already labelled me as a loud-speaking Italian as soon as I opened my mouth.

“We can talk about whatever we want!” replied Ruben Pang in a stubborn tone which implied than yes, it was not advisable to talk about incest on the Singapore metro, but rules didn’t apply to us free-thinkers.

Ah, the fleeting camaraderie you establish for a few hours with some of the artists you interview! I really liked Ruben Pang, but I was wary. In three hours, he had already told me three times that he is a person who gets easily bored. The thing with these ultra-nice people is that they never say what they truly want. They endure boredom, endure struggles, and they act as if everything is fine. On top of that, Ruben also declared to passionately admire the stoics, especially Seneca. He finds their endurance in the face of sufferings and the fact they never complain, totally badass.

Published! Sharjah Biennal on Memo

By: Naima Morelli

06-04-2019

English, Essay, Middle East, News, Published

SharjahBiennal

“It is not usual to find a politically and religiously conservative country going hand in hand with being one of the most culturally active. An exception is Sharjah, a unicorn in the United Arab Emirates.”

The webmagazine Middle East Monitor has just published my article on the Sharjah Biennale.

Here is the link to the article

Naima Morelli

Published! Interview with Thanom Chapakdee

Published: Interview with Torlarp Larpjaroensook

THE SINGAPORE SERIES – CHAPTER 32

Donna Ong

Talk on Thai contemporary art at UNINT Speech

Published! Panya Projects on Culture360

2019 Venice Biennale on Middle East Monitor

THE SINGAPORE SERIES – CHAPTER 27

The Singapore Series – chapter 26

How space influences the art

The Singapore Series – Chapter 24

Published! Interview with Manit Sriwanichpoom on CoBo

THE SINGAPORE SERIES — CHAPTER 23

Published! Sharjah Biennal on Memo

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