At the beginning of 2019 I realized one of my yearly reportages on contemporary art in Thailand. Among the most interesting artists I have interviewed is Tawatchai Puntusawasdi; our conversation has just been published on CoBo.
Here is the link to the interview
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At the beginning of the year I have realized a reportage on Thai contemporary art. The webmagazine CoBo Social has just published my interview with artist Noraset Vaisayakul.
Here is the link to the interview
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The webmagazine Cobo has just published my interview with Thai artist Jakkai Siributr. This particular conversation has really provided clarity to shed new light on the whole month-long reportage I did in Thailand at the beginning of the year.
I have found this happens every reportage. There is always one conversation that reveals a particular key to read the reality your are exploring, or throws in a few challenges and reflections that stay with me long after the field research is finished.
Often that key comes from a figure – like Jakkai in this case – who has extensive knowledge of both Eastern and Western contemporary art practices, and is able to bridge the two through the narrative of his life.
There are few others interview to go to conclude the material I have collected with this reportage in Thailand, and can’t wait to share it more with you. But for the time being…
Here is the link to the interview
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Hong-Kong based website and platform for collectors CoBo Social has just published my review of the Southeast Asian Pavilions at the 2019 Venice Biennale. I looked at the different national propositions with interest and a bit of a critical eye as well.
Here is the link to the review
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Here is a new article from my reportage in Thailand. I’m particularly fond of this interview with one of the most gentle and strong soul I have encountered in my trip. The piece has been just published by CoBo Social.
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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A few weeks ago, while I was trotting around Thailand for my new reportage on the local art scene, CoBo published my interview with Cambodian artist Leang Seckon. His work is incredible, multilayered and really a mirror of contemporary Cambodia.
I interviewed him last year as a part of my reportage on contemporary art in Cambodia, visited his studio and find him to be a generous soul and a humble and complex personality.
Here is the link to the interview
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It was February last year that I embarked on a month-long journey to Cambodia for a reportage on the local contemporary art scene. During that time on the field I realized 20 interviews in Siem Reap, Battambang and Phnom Penh, meet incredible people, and had the privilege to visit artist’s studio and local art spaces.
Among these, Java Arts in Phnom Penh is certainly one of the most important, and the name of its founder and director Dana Langlois was one of the first on my list of the must-interview. A powerhouse in her own right, Dana gave me her perspectives on the Cambodian art scene. CoBo has just published our conversation.
It took one year to publish most of the material, article by article, mostly on CoBo, but also on Culture360 and Art Republik. I love this methodology of work I have established, from gathering the seeds (aka researching on the field), sowing and watering (working on the material and reflecting on it throughout the year) and harvesting (seeing the pieces published on magazines.) It’s a thing of beauty, and I try to be present to each phase of this process. Hopefully, throughout this year I manage to share what I have learned about Cambodian contemporary art, and highlight what’s interesting with it.
And now to Dana’s interview on CoBo, hope you will enjoy it:
Here is the link to the interview
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In the third installment of CoBo’s series on Cambodian photographers, I spoke with artist Sophal Neak, a rising talent in the Cambodian scene. This piece is part of my reportage on Cambodian contemporary art.
Here is the link to the interview
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My interview with Cambodian artist Svay Sareth, which took place at the beginning of the year in Siem Reap, has just been published on the webmagazine and platform for collectors CoBo Social. The article is part of my reportage on Cambodian contemporary art.
Here is the link to the interview
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A great gift of being an arts writer is that I get the chance to reflect at the learning and teaching from the books I read and the concepts I grapple with in my everyday life, and I can look at how artists articulate interpret them.
I am a big fan of the work of Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, who in her new tome dedicated to the wise woman archetype titled: The Dangerous Old Woman, she tells how senior daring women – considered dangerous for centuries – manifest themselves as creative souls and artists. We have had many examples of their artistic power in the West; from Georgia O’Keeffe to Louise Bourgeois, these artists are today points of reference for the younger generation. But what about the East?
In my new piece for CoBo I presented five amazing women artists hailing from Asia, who connect us with universal wisdom and who were able to reach a unique power of expression.
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Another interview with a super-interesting Khmer artist has been published on CoBo, as part of my reportage on contemporary art in Cambodia. For this piece I spoke with Kanitha Tith, one of the young, emerging voices in the artistic landscape, who is gaining more and more recognition internationally.
In the article she tell about her creative process and what it means to be a multi-passionate creative in Phnom Penh.
Here is 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
