Naima Morelli

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Tag "hong kong"
Painting of sitting room with a glassy side table, yellow sofa and plants

As Hong Kong is gearing up for its art week, I have spoken with collectors and gallerists for the Financial Times to see how the art market is a bit more fragmented than it used to be.

Here is the link to the article

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The Australian webmagazine Artshub has just published my new piece titled “Why Singapore is the new gateway for the Southeast Asian art scene”

I had a steady collaboration with this amazing platform in the past, which started when I was actually living in Melbourne and carried on throughout the different changes of base.

It was interesting to connect my three years of research on the Singapore contemporary art scene with what I could appreciate last month during the Singapore Art Week.

Of course, my piece is very positive because it’s no mystery that I love Singapore and I have a lot of faith in the way things are developing there.

Here is the link to the article

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JakkaiSiributr
The webmagazine Cobo has just published my interview with Thai artist Jakkai Siributr. This particular conversation has really provided clarity to shed new light on the whole month-long reportage I did in Thailand at the beginning of the year.

I have found this happens every reportage. There is always one conversation that reveals a particular key to read the reality your are exploring, or throws in a few challenges and reflections that stay with me long after the field research is finished.

Often that key comes from a figure – like Jakkai in this case – who has extensive knowledge of both Eastern and Western contemporary art practices, and is able to bridge the two through the narrative of his life.

There are few others interview to go to conclude the material I have collected with this reportage in Thailand, and can’t wait to share it more with you. But for the time being…

Here is the link to the interview

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GeraldLeow

CoBo Social has just published an interview with one of my favorite Singaporean artists, Gerald Leow. We did the interview this past June, at the time he exhibited his latest series “I am Time Grown Old To Destroy the World” at Chan+Hori gallery in Singapore.

Here is the link to the interview

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vipoo
We kick off the new year with the publication of an interview I did some time ago with ceramic artist Vipoo Srivilasa for CoBo Social. His work explores the similarities between the cultures of his native Thailand and his adoptive home, Australia. Vipoo’s art is playful and profound– as well as being highly collectible.

Here is the link to the interview

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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

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Arahmaiani
Thanks to the amazing CoBo, little by little I’m getting to interview all my favorite contemporary artists! This time I chatted with Arahmaiani, a legend and a model of badassery in contemporary art and in life. The piece is called: “The Superheroine of Indonesian Contemporary Art”.

I have interviewed her for her new show at Tyler Rollins in New York, from September 15 to October 29. We talked about many different subjects, but the aspect I decided to focus on for the piece was her shift from criticism to activism in her work.

Since I first started researching Indonesian art, the political and social aspect of the art was the one that struck me the most. Over time I have asked artists if it is really possible to have an impact on society with contemporary art alone. Overall, Indonesian artists seemed to me much less romantic and much more hands-on compared to some of their European counterparts.

Here’s the link to the piece

 

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IndoNature
My new piece “Five Indonesian artists that help us rethink nature” has just been published on Cobo. In recent years I came to feel very strongly about environmental issues and I’m a big believer that art can really help people connect with our planet on a deep level. Channelling the spirit of the times, contemporary Indonesian artists are tackling the theme of nature in a unique way.

Here’s the link to the piece

ps: Cobo has new flashin’ fb page, check it out!
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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

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FendryEkel

The Hong-Kong based magazine Cobo has just published my interview with artist Fendry Ekel. Ekel moved from Indonesia to the Netherlands in the ’80s, where he studied art mentored by top-notch artists such as Luc Tuymans and Michelangelo Pistoletto.

Growing up in a family with a military background, for Ekel being an artist was an intentional choice. Painting is his medium of selection, and he is aware that the visual and conceptual aspects of an artwork go hand in hand. In his recent solo show “1987” at Galeri Nasional Indonesia, Fendry Ekel recreated a mental journey of the mankind through a series of monumental paintings.

Here’s the link to the interview
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indocollectorsmuseums
The Hong-Kong based webmagazine and platform CoBo has published my latest article called “Are Collectors Doing the Job of the Government in Indonesia?” In the piece I discuss the substantial role of Indonesian collectors in changing local art scene through the establishment of private museums – an act to substitute the role of local government’s in the promotion of contemporary art.

Here’s the link to the article
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5emergingindoartists
Every time a new article of mine gets published, I’m always so happy and grateful to have a job that allows me to make great discoveries and dwell on great art. That was certainly the case with this piece: “Five Emerging Indonesian Artists”, which has just been published on the webmagazine CoBo.

But of course, nothing comes without challenges. It wasn’t easy to limit myself to just five artists (or collectives, or duos), and of course I  wanted to go beyond the most obvious names that would tick the “emerging” box. On top of that, I tried to get a good ratio of women artists, that often don’t get enough press for a number of reason (I talk about that in another piece) – and yet they create amazing work. So here my version of the top five emerging Indonesian artists! Let me know what do you think, I’m happy to expand on this list in the future!

Here’s the link to the piece
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