Naima Morelli

29-08-2018

SvaySareth
My interview with Cambodian artist Svay Sareth, which took place at the beginning of the year in Siem Reap, has just been published on the webmagazine and platform for collectors CoBo Social. The article is part of my reportage on Cambodian contemporary art.

Published! Artists modelling the Wise Woman on Cobo

13-08-2018

Here is the link to the piece

WiseWoman

A great gift of being an arts writer is that I get the chance to reflect at the learning and teaching from the books I read and the concepts I grapple with in my everyday life, and I can look at how artists articulate interpret them.

I am a big fan of the work of Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, who in her new tome dedicated to the wise woman archetype titled: The Dangerous Old Woman, she tells how senior daring women – considered dangerous for centuries – manifest themselves as creative souls and artists. We have had many examples of their artistic power in the West; from Georgia O’Keeffe to Louise Bourgeois, these artists are today points of reference for the younger generation. But what about the East?

In my new piece for CoBo I presented five amazing women artists hailing from Asia, who connect us with universal wisdom and who were able to reach a unique power of expression.

Published! Interview with Hou Hanru on CoBo

07-07-2018

HouHanru

The webmagazine/collector’s platform CoBo has just published my interview with Hou Hanru, curator and artistic director of the contemporary art museum of Rome MAXXI. In the interview I have found Hanru not only to be a great inquirer of our times through art, but also a person of deep intelligence and kindness. All of that clearly transpires from the shows at the MAXXI, which is the channel for Rome to take part in the international dialogue for contemporary art.

Published! Interview with Vandy Rattana on CoBo

21-03-2018

VandyRattana

More from my latest research/reportage on Cambodian contemporary art! In the second installment of the CoBo’s series on Cambodian photographers, I talk with celebrated artist Vandy Rattana, who gives out a critical viewpoint on the art scene in the country.

Published! Interview with Umibaizurah Mahir Ismail on CoBo

02-03-2018

The webmagazine and collector’s platform CoBo has just published my interview with artist Umibaizurah Mahir Ismail, who is known to pushing the boundaries of ceramic work in Malaysia.

Published! Interview with Krisna Murti on CoBo

15-12-2016

krisna
When all your favourite things come together, you can’t help writing about them. In the case of this interview with the great video art and new media pioneer Krisna Murti, which has been just published by CoBo, these things are contemporary art, Indonesia and martial arts.

Published! Interview with Corinne Diserens on Cobo

28-10-2016

Here is the link to the piece

taipeibiennal
The 2016 Taipei Biennal is the most important contemporary art event in Taiwan, and this year it has been curated by French curator Corinne Diserens. In this interview for Cobo we tackle many topics, including the role of the museum and a subject that I’m currently researching on right now: bureaucracy.

Sedulur Gamelan/Gamelan Sisters at National Gallery of Victoria

14-03-2014

Australia, English, Indonesia, News, Research, Uncategorized, Visit

gamelan2

What the National Gallery of Victoria is trying to do with the Melbourne Now exhibition is to define the identity of Melbourne through its cultural practices, with a special focus on contemporary art.
I’m in Italy now, ironically writing my book about emerging artists in Melbourne, so I couldn’t visit the exhibition. Luckily my Australian friends and the artists that I have interviewed always keep me updated.
Some time ago I got a mail from artist Danius Kesminas, who told me about his new project with Slave Pianos for Melbourne Now, called Gamelan sisters (Sedulur gamelan). I posted some images, which gives you the feeling of this evocative machinery. On Slave Pianos’ website I find more information about it:

“Sedulur Gamelan (Gamelan Sisters) consists of two interlocking wooden structures that reconfigure elements of traditional Javanese architecture through the De Stijl philosophical principles of neoplasticism to create an abstraction of an 18th century double grand piano.

Published! My interview with Bindi Cole is the cover story of Trouble Magazine

You can read the magazine online at this link

06-05-2013

Australia, English, Interview, Published, Research, Uncategorized

cover

My interview with artist Bindi Cole is the cover story of the Australian magazine Trouble.
The interview is part of my research about contemporary art in Melbourne.

The world’s smallest gallery

07-04-2013

Australia, English, Review, Uncategorized, Visit

My understanding of Melbourne so far it that everything is about the lanes. The graffiti, the social life, the art exhibitions.
A week ago I was searching for this Trink Tank gallery and, guess what, I ended up in a blind alley. In a blind lane to be precise.

I asked a bunch of people in front of a bar if they know where this Trink Tank gallery was.
A guy with a chef hat smirked:”You just passed it. It’s there!” and he guided me without fail to a shrine in the wall.
Inside the small shrine, like a Neapolitan Madonna, there was Marc Standing’s artwork “The Duchess Of Avon”.
I read the press release that you could take off from a stack of papers. Apparently the shape of the statuette was from a 1970s Avon perfume bottle, which ironically contained Sweet Honesty perfume: “Her tribal painted face is a stark contrast to her Eurocentric bridal ensemble. Coloured thread emanates from her bouquet, enfolding her in an almost suffocating embrace. However, her stoic stance is one of pride and reverence.'” stated the press release.

“So… that’s it!”
“Yeeee!” said proudly the guy “This is the gallery!”

Australia. You can have huge streets, kilometers of nothing just outside the city, the broadest spaces ever and at the same time, in a shady lane in Melbourne, the Trink Tank gallery, probably the one of the world’s smallest gallery.

Silent dancers