Endless Southeast Asia

“Endless Southeast Asia” is an attempt to uncover a wealth of conceptual fragments that lie deep within the archives and unconscious spaces of the region.

Serving as the first stop of the workshop series, “Endless Southeast Asia” in Bandung opens with a public program talk. It will then be followed by a series of (closed) workshops.

During the program talk, public can engage in conversations with regards to topics such as questioning traditional postcolonial viewpoints and entrenched research methodologies, amongst others, which will broaden the scope for new avenues of exploration within the Southeast Asian art practices perspective.

Participating researchers and research topics:

1. "Trans-Locality and Trans-Historicity in the Global South" by Alia Swastika, (Curator/Artistic director of Biennale Jogja, Yogyakarta) investigates connections between Global South countries and reinterpreted historical narratives through art projects.
2. "Deskilling Art, Reskilling Craft in Neoliberal Indonesia" by Brigitta Isabella (Curator/Writer, Yogyakarta), explores the impact of technological assistance on art and craft labor dynamics in Indonesia.
3. "Takdir Alisjahbana's Cybernetics-Influenced Practice" by Kathleen Ditzig (Curator at National Gallery Singapore, Singapore) explores the institutional practice of Takdir Alisjahbana influenced by cybernetics.
4. "UNESCO's Role in South Korean Art During the Cold War" by Sooyoung Leam (Curator at Seoul National University, Seoul) examines UNESCO's local impact on Korean art amidst Cold War ideological pressures.
5. "Artistic Exchange in Mainland China during the Cold War" by Su Wei (Curator/Art history researcher, Beijing) analyzes mainland China's artistic practices during the Cold War era and its future trajectories.
6. "On the Shifting Conditions of Solidarity” by You Mi (Curator, Professor at University of Kassel, Kassel) explores the evolving factors that affect unity.  

The workshop "Endless Southeast Asia" is part of the "Lookout on a Cape: Art in Cultural Exchange in East, Southeast, and South Asia in the Second Half of the 20th Century" project, focusing on the role of "subjectivity" in cultural exchange across these regions, initiated by Su Wei and You Mi, in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut branches in Beijing, Bandung, Kolkata, Hanoi, Jakarta, Manila, Mumbai, and Seoul.