PANEL DISCUSSION:
Trading Ideas:Emerging Discourses on Asian Contemporary Art
Wednesday, Nov 9, 6:30-8:30 PM
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission Street,
San Francisco, CA 94103

One of the most persistent and reoccurring topics of discussion about contemporary art practice in Asia has been focused on the pursuit of its independent identity. On the one hand, Asia’s long and rich histories have yielded elaborate philosophical systems, cultural values, and religious beliefs, as well as classical art forms and performance traditions, which fundamentally and consistently influence artistic discourses today. On the other hand, since the advent of European and American modernism, its notions of the avant-garde have long been incorporated into the strategies of many contemporary Asian artists. Yet, artist projects that situate themselves differently in relationship to Western traditions have not garnered the same level of consideration and attention on the world stage. As globalization became the keyword of the Contemporary Period, the slogan “thinking globally and acting locally” still has a double standard and an alarming undertone of cultural colonialism. Many of the most salient discussions that have emerged during this period place a particularly high value on the region’s rapid social change and urbanization process articulated through the aid of postcolonial theories. However, for over a decade, these perspectives have been applied with monotonous regularity to contemporary Asian art, while the centuries old historical and cultural connections across Asia have played a less visual role.

Panel 1-Contemporary Art and Social Contexts in Philosophical Turns

Panel 2-Rebalancing Notions of Cultural Specificity and Global Spheres of Influence in Contemporary Art

How can we create an integrated approach to the interpretation of contemporary Asian art that innovatively links current social realities with Asia’s rich histories, cultures and religions? What approaches are emerging for increasing the visibility of trans-Asian sources, practices and sites of engagement? How does transmission and interconnectivity occur beyond space and time and expand imaginative scopes through arts transformative potential? With the intention to answer these questions, two panels will provide opportunities to develop new conversations and invite fresh readings of traditional perspectives on pan-Asian and global cross currents in contemporary art.

Please follow this link for more information:
http://www.asiancontemporarysf.org/event/?event_id=39