Talk on Thai contemporary art at UNINT Speech
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.
Our speech was titled “Researching emerging art system: Thailand.” We talked about the research on Thai contemporary art Roberto and I embarked on at the beginning of the year, and shared our reflections going through all the material we collected.
I gave an intro explaining how you structure an art reportage in a foreign countries, what cultural differences a researcher must take into account, and went on describing the three guidelines of our research: politics, spirituality and the environment.
Roberto carried on from where I left, giving more of a philosophical slant and describing our experience in Bangkok through the lens of adaptability.
As always, a talk is a great place to stop and take stock of our experience. The dialogue with the public – which was in this case not well-versed (yet) about contemporary art but extremely knowledgeable in approaching foreign cultures, gave us new ways to expand our reflections. And having our speech translated in different langues in real time was just another gymnastic for the mind.
It was a real gift for our spirit. Thanks to the organizers, Nicholas Corrêa Do Amaral Faina and Marta Cappiello who invited us. Can’t wait to be back next year.
