Visit | Naima Morelli

THE SINGAPORE SERIES – CHAPTER 10

07-01-2018

Essay, Reportage, Research, Singapore, Singapore Series, Visit

Audience anxiety

In 2017, I visited a show a of late ceramic artist called Iskander Jalil, in dialogue with the young Singaporean artist Gerald Leow at the National Gallery of Singapore. Gerald’s day job was set design, and it showed from his intervention in the show, which was very subtle. He built a metal structure evoking the traditional house of Inskandar with a simple metal outline. I was looking forward to seeing the show since the artist mentioned that he was doing research from it in our first interview, and I peered out curiously into the room. Before I had the chance to set foot inside, the gallery sitter, gentle as ever, handed me a flyer: “Please find here some information about the show. You will find also the interview of the curator with Gerald Leow and some information about the content of the show. Please proceed to your left to see the exhibition.” Being a Neapolitan, so a rule-breaker by nature, I was about to blurt out: “Well, what if I want to start from the right?” After all, there was no chronology intended in the work, and there were no other people in room. But instead, I shut up and remembered where I was. And yes, I was in a place where the so-called audience anxiety was real.

Published! Review of Home Beirut at MAXXI for Memo

By: Naima Morelli

22-11-2017

English, Middle East, Published, Review, Visit

Beirut

I feel today the MAXXI Museum in Rome is the one contemporary art institution who is really nailing it in the Eternal City. The multifaceted and highly political show “Home Beirut: Sounding the Neighbors” is proof of that. The exhibition focuses on Beirut artists representing city’s development and destiny, and introducing the local artistic scene to a European public.

This show is the third chapter of the “Mediterranean Trilogy” through which the MAXXI has been examining the interaction between the artistic communities of Europe and the Middle East. The aim is prompting the birth of a new trans-Mediterranean culture, critically important for the global landscape of artistic creation.

The show presented 30 artists, architects, filmmakers, musicians, dancers, researchers, activists negotiating between critical reflections of recent history of conflicts, through archiving and re-enacting memories, and prospection of the future, through attempts of urban transformation and global outreaching.

Here is the link to the review

Published! Bureaucracy and Singaporean artists on CoBo

By: Naima Morelli

10-10-2017

English, Essay, Published, Reportage, Research, Singapore, Visit

Bureaucracy

CoBo has just published my new piece titled “5 Singaporean artists working with the theme of Bureaucracy”. Researching the Singaporean art system and the artists’ practice, I noticed the emergence of this set of preoccupations with organisation, repetition, boredom, archiving, censorship, procedures, rules – which definitely dismantles the romantic idea of the artist as we conceived it. Bureaucracy is so pervasive in society such as the Singaporean one, that becomes not only a conditio sine qua non for art to be happening, but also a subject in itself to reflect on. This article features artists Jack Tan, Terry Wee, Zihan Loo, Lim Tzay-Chuen and Lai Yu Tong.

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Interview with Audrey Yeo on CoBo

By: Naima Morelli

11-09-2017

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

audrey_yeo

CoBo has just published my interview with gallerist Audrey Yeo, director of Yeo Workshop in Singapore. I realized the interview a few months ago and it was greatly inspiring to talk with such an important igniter of the Singaporean art scene.

Here is the link to the interview

Published! Sopheap Pich at Venice Biennale on CoBo

By: Naima Morelli

24-06-2017

Cambodia, Essay, News, Published, United States, Visit

pich

Cambodian artist Sopheap Pich is part of the show “Viva Arte Viva” by Christine Macel at the Venice Biennale. In this piece for CoBo – part of my report on this year’s Venice Biennale retrace the artistic vision of Pich to better understand how to look at his work in this international avenue.

Here’s the link to the piece

Published! Interview with Lani Maestro on CoBo

By: Naima Morelli

21-06-2017

Interview, Philippines, Published, Visit

Even though I have been quite critical of this Venice Biennale as a whole, I still love many of the artists who have exhibited both in the show and in the national pavilions. Lani Maestro, representing Philippines together with Manuel Ocampo, is definitely a favourite. I have been mesmerized by her capacity to unleash the evocative power of language through her neon installations. Cobo has published my interview with her, with the title: “Language Subverting Violence: Lani Maestro at Venice Biennale 2017”.

Here’s the link to the interview

Published! Southeast Asian Pavilions at the 2017 Venice Biennale

By: Naima Morelli

01-06-2017

English, Essay, Indonesia, Italy, Published, Review, Singapore, Visit

seavenicebiennale2017

Here is my piece for CoBo on the Southeast Asian Pavilions at the Venice Biennale. This piece wasn’t easy to write and I have been quite critical – something I don’t usually like to be. But this Biennale really called for criticism, the way I see it.

Here’s the link to the piece

Published! Interview with Sinta Tantra on CoBo

By: Naima Morelli

18-05-2017

English, Europe, Indonesia, Interview, Italy, Published, Visit

SintaTantra

CoBo has just published my interview with British/Indonesian artist Sinta Tantra, who I visited at her studio at the British School in Rome, where she is doing a residency. As always, every interview is a chance to learn something and often times the words of artists resonate powerfully with my own life.

Here is the link to the interview

Published! Review of Art Stage 2017 on D_Railed

By: Naima Morelli

07-02-2017

Published, Review, Singapore, Visit

artstage2017
D_Railed Magazine has just published my review of Art Stage Singapore 2017. In this piece I engage in a different set of reflection compared to the ones I explored in my previous article for CoBo, where I specifically looked at the decreased participation of foreign galleries to the fair this year. The final observation is the same though: Art Stage, just like many other art fairs all over the world, is becoming more and more region-based.

Here’s the link to the article

Published! Laslo Iera Open Studio on Art a Part of Culture

By: Naima Morelli

17-09-2016

English, Essay, Italiano, Italy, Published, Visit

Italian webmagazine Art a Part of Culture has just published an article on Laslo Iera’s open studio, with the title “Surrealism on the Prenestina” (that’s the street of Rome where Laslo’s studio is located).

When you write about your dear redhead friend, you must force yourself to step back from a work that you saw in its evolution, and look at things more objectively. My strategy in arts writing is going personal with artists you don’t know, and being more detached with artists you know way to well.

I feel it balances things; with my articles I want to give information about the work but also give an peek into the personality of artists, and what brought them to realize a certain work. Laslo’s ideas are powerful and his aesthetic is polarizing: you either love it or hate it – just like the artists who created it.

Here’s the link to the article

Published! Best of Giardini at Venice Architecture Biennale on Escape

By: Naima Morelli

27-06-2016

Germany, Italy, News, Published, Reportage, UK, Visit

Times of Malta’s Sunday magazine Escape has just published my selection of the top four pavilions at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale. While in a previous piece on Cobo I focused on the Asian Pavilions, here I take a look at the European Pavilions in the Giardini section of the Biennale. What I have found are a lot of interesting ideas, a few which is possible to implement, others to add to our toolkit for a better understanding of the world we live in.

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Asia at Venice Architecture Biennale on Cobo

By: Naima Morelli

16-06-2016

English, Essay, Italy, Japan, Photostory, Published, Reportage, Singapore, Visit

ArchitectureBiennale

Hong-Kong based magazine Cobo has just published my report on this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale curated by Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena. The overarching theme for the show is “Reporting from the Front” and the Asian pavilions are very much in the spotlight.

Here’s the link to the piece

Naima Morelli

THE SINGAPORE SERIES – CHAPTER 10

Published! Review of Home Beirut at MAXXI for Memo

Published! Bureaucracy and Singaporean artists on CoBo

Published! Interview with Audrey Yeo on CoBo

Published! Sopheap Pich at Venice Biennale on CoBo

Published! Southeast Asian Pavilions at the 2017 Venice Biennale

Published! Interview with Sinta Tantra on CoBo

Published! Review of Art Stage 2017 on D_Railed

Published! Laslo Iera Open Studio on Art a Part of Culture

Published! Best of Giardini at Venice Architecture Biennale on Escape

Published! Asia at Venice Architecture Biennale on Cobo

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