I reviewed for Cobo Teng Jee Hum’s second book on collecting, focused on history of Singapore. The book offers insight into the history of contemporary art in the city-state.
Here is the link to the review
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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
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The Italian magazine Art a Part of Cult(ure) has just published my review of the exhibition “Sintattica”, featuring artists Luigi Battisti, claudioadami e Pasquale Polidori. The show was curated by Francesca Gallo at Museo Hendrik Christian Andersen.
Here is the link to the review
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I generally don’t like snarky – you’d rather build something than destroy something, right? At the same time, when I’m in the snarky mood, I go full on. And of course, when that happen, I really enjoy the bravado. Otherwise how would I earn the title of contemporary art super-villain? Like in this piece for the Sunday Times of Malta, for which I love to put a desecrator of contemporary art attitude. You might say, making fun of contemporary art is way too easy, but I can’t help it; sometimes you just walk in an exhibition and you start rubbing your hands!
“In a constant relating western and eastern art, Naima dissects and offers interesting models that make legible the ‘new’ culture even to those who aren’t introduced to it”
Arts writer and curator Maila Buglioni has written a very interesting review about my book “Arte Contemporanea in Indonesia, un’introduzione” for the webmagazine Artnoise. Check it out here (in Italian).
Picture above: Pinkswing Park, Collaboration work for CP Biennale by Agus Suwage and Davy Linggar, 2006. Courtesy of Tyler Rollins Fine Art.
The Italian web magazine Art a Part of Cult(ure) has just published my review of SHOUT! Indonesian Contemporary Art at MACRO, Rome (you might remember the preview of the show I posted few weeks ago).
SHOUT! definitely challenges any exoticist idea people can have of contemporary art in Indonesia. It shows a range of extremely original points of view on universal issues, from the most personal expressions to global themes. It has been great to take part in this project and really good fun hanging around with the artists!
The Italian web magazine Art a Part of Cult(ure) has just published my review of Martina Angius’ exhibition “Ordine” curated by Donato Di Pelino at Muga Gallery, Rome.
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The Italian web magazine Art a Part of Cult(ure) has just published my review of the Katrien de Blauwer’s exhibition “Where will we hide” at Galleria 291 est, Rome.
Here you are the link to the review
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“The Act of Killing” is the kind of movie that shuts you up for at least fifteen minutes after the credits. It makes you so uncomfortable that you can just chatter about irrelevant stuff with your friends out of the cinema.
Then, on the tram the way home, you suddenly burst in wordiness.
What happened is that “The Act of Killing” has finally been screened in Italian cinemas.
I went to see it the other day with a group of friends at the “Cinema Aquila”, in Pigneto, Rome.
The Act of Killing is an unconventional documentary film directed by Joshua Oppenheimer.
The film deals with the systematic slaughter of real or supposed communists in the aftermath of a failed coup in 1965 that led to General Suharto assuming power.
The director was not interested in gave a full picture of the historical events though. He didn’t even mention Suharto once.
The documentary revolves instead around the character of Anwar Congo, a leader of paramilitary organisation Pancasila Youth, whose job was to kill prisoners.
Because the historical picture was only hinted, I wouldn’t say it is a movie specifically about Indonesia’s ’65.
I would rather say it’s a movie about “the act of killing” itself, the psychology of the killer and the banality of evil.
Extreme case: let’s say you are an art journalist doing a reportage in a remote third world country.
You do all the research, you use all the common sense and you even follow some “how to” on the internet.
Even then, you could find yourself in a difficult situation like: I fixed one month in advance an interview with artist Pinco tomorrow. But I just meet artist Pallino and I can interview him only tomorrow, because he leaves the day after tomorrow. A rapid check to your mailbox and… crap! The artist Pollaiolo wants to anticipate his interview…apparently he is free only tomorrow!
So, let’s make the point. We have three interviews to prepare in one single day.
And you wake up late today too!
Don’t cancel an interview. Don’t even think about it.
To cancel an interview is bad. It’s always bad.
I did that just two times and each time a dire calamity had struck me.
The first time my boyfriend threw me out of our house, the second time a crater suddenly opened in the ground devouring my beloved kitten.
So don’t do that. Seriously.
What you can do is forget about the tan today, ignore the heat and the shining sun and sit in front of your computer.
Now all your efforts will be concentrated on doing an accurate research and at the same time get all the work done as fast as possible.
I usually use the following method.
Art Monthly Australia published my review of Gao Brothers performance in Piazza del Popolo, Rome with the title “Gao Brothers: The Utopia of Hugging for 20 Minutes”.
Photos of Luigi Ielluzzo.
Here you are the link to Art Monthly website
Here you are the editorial preview of the issue
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Dopo un interrogatorio durato un’ora e mezza Crewdson non ha sputato il rospo, non ha cantato intendo, e con queste parole voglio dire che non si è lasciato andare a quelle meravigliose rivelazioni che avrebbero sgomentato la platea, ancora più del suo repentino cambiamento di estetica in quest’ultima mostra “Sanctuary”, da Gagosien.
Un po’ una tortura, sebbene sopportata in traduzione simultanea sulle comode poltrone della sala conferenze del MAXXI, il percepire questo sottinteso, questi “motivi personali” colpevoli delle svolta, che il critico del New York Times Michael Kimmelman, quanto mai speranzoso, ha cercato durante tutto il tempo di tirare fuori dalla bocca del reticente artista.
Un breve resoconto del fattaccio: Gregory, quello delle fotografie cinematografiche, quello di “Beneath the Roses”, quello che insomma quando guardate le sue fotografie a David Linch fischiano le orecchie, ebbene proprio lui decide di venire nella Città Eterna.
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