One of the most relevant Malaysian artists of her generation, Yogyakarta-based Nadiah Bamadhaj uses sculpture, drawing, collage and video to challenge the restrictive societal norms in Southeast Asian countries and explore body politics.
I have interviewed her for the webmagazine Qantara
Here is the link to the interview
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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
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You might have guessed it; alongside Cambodia, my current research is expanding towards Thailand. I first had a glimpse of the depth of at the artists from this country in the 2015 exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, which looked at Southeast Asia. Then with the Thai focus at the last Art Stage Singapore I learned some more. I continued expanding my understanding thanks to some editing work of interviews to Thai curators and collectors. And now I’m glad to say I’m hooked!
Thanks to the wonderful curator Loredana Pazzini-Paracciani, who is a contemporary Thai art expert, I had the chance to meet Tawan Wattuya and Vasan Sitthiket in Rome. In this regards, it has been super-interesting to interview them and compare the work and perspectives of these two artists from different generations.
Here is my interview with Vasan for your friendly neighborhood magazine CoBo. I walked away from this chat with so many insights, and hopefully I managed to convey some of those to you dear reader!
Here is the link to the interview
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The webmagazine/collector’s platform CoBo has just published my interview with Hou Hanru, curator and artistic director of the contemporary art museum of Rome MAXXI. In the interview I have found Hanru not only to be a great inquirer of our times through art, but also a person of deep intelligence and kindness. All of that clearly transpires from the shows at the MAXXI, which is the channel for Rome to take part in the international dialogue for contemporary art.
Here is the link to the interview
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Here we go with a new article from my Cambodia reportage; it’s so great to see all the fruits from my research coming out little by little and share all this beauty – this time through the web platform Culture360 which is all about creating trans-continental connections.
And I’m super grateful to have met art manager and Kon Len Khnhom founder Met Moeng during my trip to Phnom Penh. Coming from an art system where people don’t have to do things in the arts out of necessity, but more for individualistic reasons, it’s very heartening to see someone who daily embodies the word “service”. Through founding her own art space Kon Len Khnhom Meta really stretched herself beyond her limits, proving that it’s possible to do it if you are willing to let go of control and you are guided by sheer passion.
Coming into contact with her passion and determination was a real blast, and keeps on inspiring me!
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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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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
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I have been a long-time reader of the Singapore-based magazine Art Republik, so it has been above exciting to be a contributor for the latest Crossover Issue. Also, I might be old-fashioned, but as I much as I enjoy writing for online publications, to see my words in print is always a thrilling experience.
The piece is an interview with Vietnamese multimedia artist Lai Dieu Ha who – aside having the coolest name in the world – is also an artist with an extremely interesting and multifaceted practice. Besides, talking with her gave me a small intro to the Vietnamese art scene which I hope to explore more in-depth soon. Next reportage? Who knows!
Here’s the link to Art Republik’s website
As I’m running around Singapore collecting interviews, attending vernissages and getting lost in shopping malls, Escape – the Sunday magazine of the Times of Malta – has just published my interview with Elizabeth Pisani author of the travelogue “Indonesia etc.” (the Italian version was published here).
Here is the link for the interview
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Hong Kong-based magazine CoBo has just published my interview with Norwegian art collector and adventurer Erling Kagge. There is a line of the interview that is applicable well beyond collecting, and definitely struck a chord with me: “To be an art collector you must be obsessed. It is beyond rationality and there is a bit of insanity in it. Many people have hobbies, they might collect stamps or cars. I personally don’t have hobbies, for me both expeditions, art collecting and publishing are different aspects of the same thing called “lifestyle”. I’m all in and I don’t set boundaries between my private life, my life as a collector, or as an explorer.”
I believe that this concept of “being all in” for the things you love, is what ultimately leads to a beautiful life. For me personally this state can be find in the technique; whether it is writing, the martial arts or creating stories. But it can also translate in simply deeply listening to a friend when he’s telling you about his take on Rudolf Steiner’s theories in front of a cup of coffee. It is that sense of connection with everything you have committed to do in depth. It creates a communion of ideas, people, nature, everything around us. It puts us in a network, as opposed to making us feeling disconnected.
So for me today it is not really about asking the point of doing a particular activity, but it is rather about recognizing what learning and practicing whatever type of activity or art in depth can make to your life. This goes especially for those privileged few of us which have time every now and then to incur in existential crisis. But I’m going off topic…
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A few months ago I met Indonesian artist Farhan Siki for his show “Trace” at Banca Generali, in Milan. We spoke about the exhibition and his approach to art. Hong-Kong magazine CoBo has just published the interview, along with a short video of part of our conversation.
Here is the link to the piece + video
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Almost exactly one year ago in Paris, a dancer friend who had lived in Indonesia, told me of a great Indonesian artist who I should absolutely meet and interview. The artist was Ivan Sagita, a painter based in Yogyakarta whose work is charming and mysterious.
Ivan Sagita is one of the initiators of what has been called “Jogja surrealism”, a style that emerged in the 1980s in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta. His painting and sculptures combine a strong social element to the spiritual realm – what the artist calls “the unreal”.
I finally met with the artists a few weeks ago and sat with him to discussed this concept, his background and the idea of spirituality in art. The interview has just been published on the webmagazine/platform Cobo.
Here’s the link to the interview
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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
