Naima Morelli

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The show Rintagan (Resistance) at Richard Koh Fine Art presents works that don’t come from the mind, but rather from a physical involvement with painting materials. They were first inspired by the virtual realm: “I took pictures from Instagram, and then cropped some details,” explains Haffendi. “So it’s going from the virtual, to the IRL, then – being this an online show – to the virtual again.”

My interview with Malaysian artist Haffendi Anuar has been published on Plural Art Mag.

Here is the link to the interview

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A collection can represent many different things; it can be a statement, contribution, research, even a love story. In the case of retired German doctor, Christoph Bendick, who has worked in Phnom Penh for 25 years, it’s the story of an encounter with a country whose painful recent history is interlaced with the resilience and strength of its people.

I have interviewed the collector for the Singapore-based magazine Plural.

Here is the link to the interview

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Radice and Turconi

A couple of months ago I have interviewed for Global Comment two of my favourite graphic novel authors, the creative couple Teresa Radice and Stefano Turconi. The interview has just been published; we delved into the creative process behind their most interesting work.

Here is the link to the interview

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Andonowati at home with a work by Tisna Sanjaya in the background. Courtesy of Andonowati.

It was an honour and a privilege to start my collaboration with Larry’s List with this interview with one of the people I admire and respect the most in the art world: Andonowati.

She is not only a extremely savvy collector with a heightened sensitivity for art, but also an accomplished mathematician, a collector, a gallerist, a business person, an art initiator, and entrepreneur and also an incredibly compassionate and kind human.

I first met her through my research on Bandung-based artist Eddy Susanto and learned about her gallery and foundation Lawangwangi Creative Space in Bandung. In 2010, Andonowati launched the Bandung Contemporary Art Award (BaCAA) — one of the most prestigious art awards in Southeast Asia, which I took part of as a judge in 2019.

Here is the link to the interview

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It has been a few months now that I have been working on two articles about Libyan contemporary art for the webmagazine Middle East Eye.

The first one of the two just came out. Here we look at the younger talents in the country and in the diaspora, Shefa Salem, Tewa Barnosa, Mohamed Abumeis, Malak El Ghuel and Faiza Ramadan, with the observation from gallerist and expert Najlaa Elageli from Noon Arts.

Here is the link to the piece

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The drill is simple, yet it’s one that we can hardly keep in mind. Don’t fool with Mother Nature. And take responsibility for your behaviour towards all species. This is what the pandemic is teaching us, and what Thai artist Ruangsak Anuwatwimon has been speaking about through more than a decade of highly impactful, heartbreaking artworks. 

I have interviewed the artist and the curator Loredana Pazzini-Paracciani for the show Reincarnations III – Ecologies of Life is presently showing at Warin Lab Contemporary, Bangkok. The piece is on Plural Art Mag.

Here is the link to the article

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Saudi artist Moza Almatrooshi

“The magical realism that resonates with me the most is the religious mythology that is born out of the Arabian Peninsula,” she tells me. “Until recently, there were minimal efforts to unearth all the erasure of pre-Islamic mythologies and histories in the region. I became interested in all the negative spaces that were vacant and allowed for a re-imagined social landscape to form.”

The webmagazine Middle East Monitor has just published my interview with Emirati artist Mooza Almatrooshi.

Here is the link to the interview

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The Singapore-based webmagazine Plural Art Mag has just published an interview with artist Justin Lee and Teng Jee Hum, one half of the Teng Collection, together with June Ong.

It was beautiful to learn how their synergies came together to create a one-of-a-kind show at The Private Museum in Singapore.

Here is the link to the piece

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I went to Cambodia for the first time in 2018, doing Siem Reap, Battambang and Phnom Penh. During my one month research trip I spoke with as many artist, curators, gallerist that I could.

Cambodia and its arts scene operated a deep transformation in my spirit, and I became very fond of the burgeoning art scene there, steadily developing despite the many difficulties.

One of the most deep, articulated conversation that I had during that time was with artist and curator Vuth Lyno. When I visited him at the art space Sa Sa BASSAC in Phnom Penh, I mostly asked him about the art community.

This time, I have interviewed him for Plural Art Mag, about it latest work Sala Samnak at Mirage Contemporary Art Space, Siem Reap.

Here is the link to the interview

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MUST WATCH] Badass Staff Spinning Reel | Michelle C. Smith - YouTube

Global Comment just published a piece of mine which is a bit different from what I usually write.

It’s an article about Canada-based teacher, actor and stuntwoman Michelle Christa Smith, who showed up every day on YouTube and Instagram from the very start of the pandemic, teaching not only her signature style of staff spinning, but also resilience, consistency, and building an amazing virtual community.

I know because, of course, I practiced along!

Here is the link to the article

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In the last couple of years I have been developing a growing fascination with the complexities of Libyan culture. While in my past I have been focused mainly on how Italian artists were looking at colonialism in Libya, now I’m starting to delve on the voices of Libyan artists themselves.

And what a better way of approaching the subject than interviewing Najlaa Elageli for Middle East Monitor. She has greatly contributed to spread the knowledge on contemporary Libyan art in the country and abroad.

Here is the link to the interview

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Artist, director and poet Hind Shoufani insists that her Palestinian-ness is a political act. “It is a choice to be on this side of history,” she tells me, “whether we triumph or not, whether I carry some piece of identification paper with blue colours on it, or green colours on it, or rainbow glitter tie-dye on it.”

Middle East Monitor has just published my interview with Hind Shoufani.

Here is the link to the interview

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