News | Naima Morelli

Published! When art gets too personal on ArtsHub

12-02-2016

Australia, English, Essay, Published, Singapore

Lovers, friends and family have always been the favourite source of inspiration for artists since the beginning of times. Of course, these involuntary muses are not always happy of being turned into characters of a story, or having their portrait on a gallery wall. This especially if the art deals with intimate, personal and potentially embarrassing themes.

Back in the day the artist could hope the subject matter was unaware of being included in the work. Today though it’s virtually impossible. An image or a review can be infinitely shared on social media. At the same time gallery access is not just for the elites anymore.

I this piece, which has just been published on ArtsHub, I discuss the ethics of including other people’s life in art with artist Geraldine Kang and writer Michele Lee.

Here’s the link to the piece

Published! Interview with Aditya Novali for CoBo

By: Naima Morelli

09-02-2016

English, Indonesia, Interview, Published

My second piece for the Hong Kong based webmagazine CoBo is an interview with Indonesian artist Aditya Novali, one of the most curious and intelligent people I had the pleasure to talk with. Aditya is the paradigm of the versatile artist and has explored many ways of making work. He was also recently nominated for Best Emerging Artist Using Installation at the Prudential Eye Awards in Singapore.

Here’s the link to the interview

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Opening of Attualità Indonesiane at Il Ramo D’Oro, Naples

By: Naima Morelli

07-02-2016

English, Indonesia, Italy, News, Visit

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Yesterday was the opening night of the show “Attualità Indonesiane” at Il Ramo D’Oro in Naples, Italy, featuring artists Balinese artists Made Bayak, Gede Suanda and Naples-based Setyo Mardiyantoro. It was a successful and interesting night where people from many different background come together to learn about art making in Indonesia and the value of art in helping to grow awareness. The interesting thing about il Ramo D’Oro is its non-elitist approach. Gallerist Vincenzo Montella doesn’t want his space to be accessible only by vernissage hoppers, but rather to people from every walk of life.

Curatorial Text for Attualità Indonesiane at Il Ramo D’Oro, Naples

By: Naima Morelli

04-02-2016

English, Indonesia, Italy, News

On the 6th of January the art centre Il Ramo D’Oro in Naples will host the exhibition of Indonesian artists Made Bayak, Gede Suanda and Setyo Mardiyantoro. I was invited by gallerist Vincenzo Montella to write the curatorial text. The show – with a patronage by the General Consulate of the Republic of Indonesia in Naples – will be open to the public from the 6th to the 14th of February. During the vernissage Prof. Antonia Soriente will present the book “The dance of the earth” by Indonesian writer Oka Rusmini.

Below my curatorial text for “Attualità Indonesiane” in English and Italian:

“If art had a message, I’d be a postman,” said Nabokov. If we talk about contemporary art at the time of the open work, the idea of the message belongs more to the white walls of Sunday school, rather than to the immaculate walls of the contemporary art’s “white cubes”.

Published! Interview with Eddie Hara on CoBo

By: Naima Morelli

03-02-2016

English, Indonesia, Interview, News, Published

eddiehara
I’m happy to announce my new collaboration with CoBo as a writer on Indonesian contemporary art. Cobo is an Hong Kong-based webmagazine and dynamic community platform – bilingual English and Chinese – with the image of the collector at its core and a focus on contemporary art, especially from Asia-Pacific area.

My first piece for CoBo is an interview with the Basel-based Indonesian artist Eddie Hara, a great friend and a badass artist, who was represented by two galleries at Art Stage Singapore. Eddie Hara is known in the art world for his irreverence and playfulness and his painting style is extremely popular among the younger generation of Indonesian artists. Thus I decided to title the piece “the Punk Uncle of Indonesian Contemporary Art”.

In the interview Eddie Hara opens up about the decision that compelled him to move to Switzerland. He also recalls his decision – radical at the time – to study art, consequentially facing his family’s opposition. He talks about the comrades from the early days, who are now big names in the art world. From Heri Dono “he knows everything about my life”, to Mella Jaarsma and Nindityo Adipurnomo.

Here’s the link to the piece

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Video! Technotown for TeenPress

By: Naima Morelli

01-02-2016

English, Italiano, Italy, video, Visit

Who would ever expect to find a technology wonderland right in the heart of the Villa Torlonia, Rome? Learning through play is the motto of Technotown, a building dedicated to children and teenagers to experiment with technology, nature and creativity.

Technotown consists in nine rooms equipped with different technologies, from Lego Mindstorms to the first plant ever to have a twitter profile. In this place children are no longer approaching technology in a mindless and lazy way. They are rather using it to imagine a sustainable future and developing new ideas.

I visited the place for a video report for the news agency Teenpress, guided by Technotown’s manager Gabriele Catanzaro. It has been a blast of energy and excitement. Technotown is the sort of place which reinforces my hopes for a better future. In their own little world, Technotown is forging a new generation of lateral thinkers and innovators. It’s a thing of beauty! And now for the video…

Published! Australian arts professionals in Singapore for ArtsHub

By: Naima Morelli

19-01-2016

Australia, English, Interview, Published, Reportage, Research, Singapore, Visit

artshub13

Australian magazine ArtsHub has just published my latest piece where I profile three Australian art professionals who are leaving their mark on the Singapore art scene. These are Ben Hampe, co-founder of Chan Hampe Galleries, Bala Starr from the Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore at LASALLE and artist Belinda Fox. This piece is part of my reportage on contemporary art in Singapore.

Here’s the link to the piece

Singapore book: From the preliminary research to the first draft

By: Naima Morelli

14-01-2016

English, Essay, News, Reportage, Research, Singapore, Visit

book
I’m a big fan of reading how writers organize their research and how they put their books together. I figured it would be interesting to detail the way I’m working at my new book on young artists in Singapore. In this post I’ll walk you through the first few stages from the preliminary research to the first draft.

First phase: preliminary research. I read articles about Singapore art scene and books on Singapore urbanism, political and economical situation. I interviewed Lee Wen when he was in Rome, I met up with Italian artists who went to Singapore on a residency, and talked to a couple of Singaporean curators visiting Italy, included Paul Khoo. I stayed two weeks in Paris for the Singapour en France event, composed by the Paris Art Fair and the exhibition “Secret Archipelago”. In both case I interviewed artists, curators and gallery owners. Back home, I talked with via skype to other Singaporean artists, mainly for magazine articles. Finally, I went to Milan to visit the exhibition “Bright S’pore” at Primo Marella gallery and saw some works in person.

I’m working on a new book + lessons learned

By: Naima Morelli

03-01-2016

Australia, English, Indonesia, News, Reportage, Research, Singapore

pascal_martin_tajou
This is a public service announcement (with guitar! As the Clash would say); I’m working on a new book. It will revolve around my research on contemporary art in Singapore and will explore some concepts I started looking at in my previous book, Arte Contemporanea in Indonesia, un’introduzione.

Of course, having a second “baby” might look easier if you already had that kind of experience. But a second book comes with its new challenges. On top of that, I also had an aborted book which still is very much a looming presence. (Should we stop once and for all with these stupid baby metaphors when talking about book projects?)

Published! Becoming Location Independent on ArtsHub

By: Naima Morelli

18-12-2015

Australia, English, Essay, Published, United States

artshub12
When I chose to become a freelance journalist, the possibility of working from everywhere was extremely luring. And I experimented a little with it, especially that couple of years that I was based first in Melbourne, Australia, and then going back and forth between Rome and Sorrento every two weeks. I quickly found out that what I pictured as total freedom, actually required an unusual amount of discipline.

In this piece for ArtsHub I interviewed absolute experts on location independency: writers Shannon O’Donnel of A Little Adrift, Jeannie Mark of Nomadic Chick and artist Veronica Kent. In this sense writing for ArtsHub is fantastic because it gives me the chance to go around and ask questions on matters that I feel pressing. And being a full-time digital nomad is still something I give a lot of thought to.

Here’s the link to the piece

Seminar on Indonesian Art at Università L’Orientale, Naples

By: Naima Morelli

16-12-2015

English, Indonesia, Italy, News, Visit

Naples in December is possibly even more stunning and lively than normal, and walking from the train station to the Università degli Studi di Napoli L’Orientale in the winter sun has been truly a gift. Likewise, it has been a gift to have the chance to introduce contemporary art in Indonesia to the students in a seminar organized by Prof. Antonia Soriente. Prof. Soriente is a wonderful and inspiring women who is having a fundamental role in introducing Indonesian literature and culture to Italy, both with her work in the university and projects like translation of books. I was really honoured to be invited to her course.

The audience was great and there have been a lot of interesting questions popping up at the end of the lecture. Students were asking about the relationship of Indonesia with western art and eastern art, landscape painting and Mooi Indie, what role Islam is having in the contemporary art scene and also inquiring about the best way to approach contemporary art in general – as many of them are new to it. I deeply enjoyed engaging with students, as for me it’s always a chance to share and reflect, and most importantly being part of someone’s experience. With every single thing you do, you’re able to have an impact, however small it is – and you can learn so much through discussion! And now a few pics from the presentation…

Video! Interview with Cristiano Quagliozzi for TeenPress

By: Naima Morelli

14-12-2015

English, Interview, Italiano, Italy, video

I have to admit the video reports with the TeenPress guys was something I was missing from my life. We are finally back with a new micro-series with the self-explanatory name “Giovani Creativi”. For these installments creatives of all stripes join us in our studio in Pietralata, Rome. We chat about their artistic practice, creative process, everyday life and day-to-day struggles. We have started with Cristiano Quagliozzi, painter, sculptor, installation and performance artist, who opens up about his upcoming project and gives us his definition of artist. Enjoy the video!

Naima Morelli

Published! Interview with Aditya Novali for CoBo

Opening of Attualità Indonesiane at Il Ramo D’Oro, Naples

Published! Interview with Eddie Hara on CoBo

Video! Technotown for TeenPress

Published! Australian arts professionals in Singapore for ArtsHub

Singapore book: From the preliminary research to the first draft

I’m working on a new book + lessons learned

Published! Becoming Location Independent on ArtsHub

Seminar on Indonesian Art at Università L’Orientale, Naples

Video! Interview with Cristiano Quagliozzi for TeenPress

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