Tactical Museum

Singapore and Gwangju Biennales 2006 co-host party at BankArt 1929, Sept 26th 2005 - Free.

With the 2nd Yokohama Triennale poised to open on September 27th, the Japanese Bi/Triennale season is upon us. The 3rd Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale also opened on September 17th down in Fukuoka.
To coincide with this, two international exhibitions due to open in autumn 2006 will co-host a press and drinks party on September 26th at alternative art space, BankArt 1929 in Yokohama. The 6th Gwangju Biennale under the Artistic Directorship of Hong-Hee Kim (Director of SSamzie Space Seoul) and the inaugural Singapore Biennale curated by Fumio Nanjo (Deputy Director of Mori Museum Tokyo), have agreed to co-host this get together in Yokohama. Gwangju opens September 7-8 2006 and Singapore opens September 4 2006, so it makes sense to share costs and cross-market each others events.
The party is free and anyone is welcome. The Singapore Embassy in Tokyo has kindly donated Tiger beer. Both Artistic Directors will give short visual presentations about their respective exhibitions. Press materials on both exhibitions will also be available. For more information:
Singapore Biennale 2006
The 6th Gwangju Biennale
Universes in Universe
BankART 1929 Hall (1F) 6-50-1 Honcho, Naka-ku, Yokohama-city 231-8315
Map here.
I will also be around, representing the Singapore Biennale curatorial team - half of whom are currently visiting other Biennales around the world.

Kommunitas Utan Kayu (Jakarta) threatened by extremists.

I received this mail from Berlin based Singapore artist Heman Chong, originally transmitted by Lucy and Weng Choy of Substation, Singapore:

Dear all,

Kommunitas Utan Kayu in Jakarta,  a "sister"
institution to The Substation has come under
attack from religious extremists.
Goenawan Mohamad and other artists from the
community have been camping out at the centre to
protect the building:
Please send your words of solidarity to
Community Utan Kayu, c/o Hasif Amini <[email protected]>
Lucy & Weng Choy

On Monday, 6 September 2005, following fresh
threats of violence from hardliners, the Utan
Kayu Community (KUK) released a press statement
read by its founder, Goenawan Mohamad.  The
statement is as follows:

1.    We, as workers in the fields of culture,
media, and education at Komunitas Utan Kayu,
declare that we will continue our efforts to
maintain and expand the freedom of thought and
freedom of expression guaranteed in the
Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.
2.    We reject all efforts to suppress differences in thought and 
religion.
3.    We believe that difference of opinion is
a God-given right. Further, that discussion and
difference of opinion play a vital part in the
democratization of our nation.
4.    We will not accept any individual or
group that uses the name of God to justify
arbitrary threats and violence.
5.    We will not allow harrassment and
despotism to prevail thus dragging Indonesia to a
state of lawlessness and anarchy.
6.    We call upon the Indonesian security
apparatus to protect the rule of law as mandated
by the Constitution.

Micro Graffitti in Singapore

I am in Singapore, researching towards the biennale next year. Today, we walked along the prime commercial thoroughfare of the city, Orchard Road. I was surprised to find signs of graffitti and sticker tagging here. Singapore has an image of being rather clean and well ordered - there seem to be no insects around due to weekly fumigation, there is not much litter on the streets and there is little evidence of public graffitti or vandalism. This it was quite nice to come across a utility cover on the Orchard Road covered with sticker tags and micro graffitti. Notice the bottom of the above picture - you will see mini versions of usually large-scale graffitti. What a good idea to reduce the scale of the work in order to avoid unnecessary exposure and possible capture.

Powerful People should Blog - Singapore

Now that I am involved in the Singapore Biennale, I find myself spending more time scanning the news and medias for things related to Singapore and its region. In this vein I have added a new category to the blog named simply 'Singapore'.
First up, an interesting article from the blogging community in Singapore - suggesting that former President Lee Kuan Yew should start his own blog.