Photos: Gajah Gallery

We talked with Susie Lingham, one of the participating artists of S.E.A. Focus 2023 about the shape of contemporary art in Singapore as well as the future of Southeast Asian culture.  

How do you see the progression of Singaporean arts from the 90’s to this day?

In 2011 I wrote a long essay on two decades of contemporary art from the late 1980s to 2011: ‘A Quota on Expression: Visions, Vexations & Vanishings (Contemporary Art in Singapore from the Late 1980s to the Present)’. Essay in Negotiating Home, History and Nation: Two Decades of Contemporary Art in Southeast Asia 1991-2011, Singapore Art Museum, 2011, pp 55-70. This was a meditative survey on the factors that impeded the organic flourishing of the arts on the island for many years.

Although some of those factors remain in play, since a significant aspect of these relates to socio-political conditioning, there have been many pragmatic and strategic changes on the cultural front since then, and concerted efforts made by the state to generate a more engaged and sustained creative economy. How it proceeds into the future is not entirely predictable.

Is any specific topic/genre/style prominent in Singapore?

The art schools here place emphasis on what contemporary art seems to look and feel like, so those trends remain apparent. Issues on climate change and the environment also figure here, just as they do around the world. Photography certainly is a significant medium here, and immersive technology is much desired in the bigger arts and cultural venues.

‘A Rhyme In π’, 2022 (Gajah Gallery)

 With how the global world pays more attention to the Asian world, how do you see the future of the Asian art scene?

The diverse colonial and cultural legacies of the region, and the understanding that geographies write histories – these key factors continue to shape the contemporary art trajectories of the different Southeast Asian countries.The diverse colonial and cultural legacies of the region, and the understanding that geographies write histories – these key factors continue to shape the contemporary art trajectories of the different Southeast Asian countries. It’s less about “unification” and more about comparative differences. The focus seems to be on individual countries’ socio-political histories, and many regional artists and curators have historical archives at the heart of their explorations. There is scope for research into the deeper psychological motivations of “nations” through more radical questions that go beyond diplomatic observations about socio-economic change and exchange.

Last year, ruangrupa/Gudskul made the headlines by how they brought the new idea of art and artmaking into one of the biggest art exhibitions in the world. How do you see this will affect the global art world?

Technology has always driven artistic expression, and the pandemic, while enforcing non-presence oriented experience, opened up virtual connectivity for many artists, even as it obliged deeper introspection. With the easing of restrictions, the S.E.A. Focus theme resonates strongly with artists and audiences alike, as we share a new appreciation of what we were deprived of in the last few years – shared experiences in the phenomenological world, and being present to art and each other.

How do you see the relevance of events such as S.E.A. Focus on fostering the art world in SouthEast Asia?

So important. Presenting the diversity of Southeast Asian artists in one venue is a wonderful doorway into the region’s labyrinthine worlds of meaning-making.

What is next for you?

Going with the flow, hoping to be able to dedicate time and energy to creative work in various forms, and delving into ideas-as-experience that are meaningful to me.

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S.E.A. Focus 2023
Tanjong Pagar Distripark,
Singapore
6-15 January 2023
https://seafocus.sg/