2017
2017 ASIA ARTS GAME CHANGER AWARDS HONOUREES
Hiroshi Sugimoto
Hiroshi Sugimoto’s singular practice spans the mediums of photography, sculpture, installation, andarchitecture. His art deals with history and temporal existence through a variety of subject matter issues surrounding time, empiricism, and metaphysicsthat bridge Eastern and Western ideologies while examining the nature of time, perception, and the origins of consciousness. The artist was born in 1948 in Tokyo, Japan, and lives and works in Tokyo and New York. In 2011, he published Sense of Space, a reflection on international museum spaces from an artist’s perspective. Sugimoto’s work has been presented in numerous international solo and group exhibitions among them The J. Paul Getty Museum (2014); 17th Biennale of Sydney (2010); Yokohama Triennale (2001); 3rd Biennale d’art contemporain de Lyon (1995); and Carnegie International (1991). His work is in the collections of institutions including the Tate Modern, London; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; andThe Museum of Modern Art, New York. The artist received the Order of Arts and Letters (2013) from the French government; the Premium Imperiale Painting Award (2009) from the Japan Arts Association; the Photo España (2006); and the Hasselblad Foundation International Award inPhotography (2001).
Hon Chi Fun
Hon Chi Fun is one of Hong Kong’s most respected visual artists who is best known for his abstract paintings. Hon started to paint abstract paintings in 1960 and organized his first solo show at Chatham Galleries. He co-founded the Circle Art Group in 1965and produced his first edition of serigraphic prints in 1966. He was amongst the first in Hong Kong to be awarded a John D. Rockefeller 3rdFund Fellowship by John D. Rockefeller 3rdFoundation –the predecessor organization of the Asian Cultural Council –in 1968. He was represented by Willard Gallery in New York. He traveled extensively from the late 60’s to the late 80’s and held a solo show at the Fung Ping Shan Museum (now known as the University Museum and Art Gallery of the University of Hong Kong) in 1988. The Documentary video ‘Hon’s Orbit’ introducing his work was produced by the Hong Kong Museum of Art in 1989. Hon moved to Canada in 1992 and returned to Hong Kong in 2000. In spite of an untimely stroke in 2000, another documentary video, ‘Hon’s Art of Serigraphy,’ was produced by the Heritage Museum. At the same time, the book on Hon’s art, “Space and Passion: The Art of Hon Chi Fun”, was published by Choi Yan Chi. Hon continued to paint and practice calligraphy whilst marching to the age of 90. In 2013, Hon received the Medal of Honor from the Hong Kong SAR Government in recognition of his outstanding artistic achievements.
Kimsooja
Kimsooja is an internationally acclaimed multimedia artist whose videos, installations, and performances poignantly address issues relating to culture, politics, history, and identity, especially with regard to the displaced self. The artist’s conceptual, aesthetic, and structural investigations of performance through immobility in her practice inverts the notion of the artist as the predominant auteur. Her work has been exhibited internationally and featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul (2016); Centre Pompidou-Metz (2015); Reina Sophia, Madrid (2006); MoMA PS1, New York (2001); 24th São Paulo Biennial (1998); the 48th, 49th, 51st and 52nd Venice Biennales. In 2013 she represented Korea at the 55th Venice Biennale.
Rashid Rana
Rashid Rana is known for his conceptual sculptures, videos, and photo composite collages that provocatively deconstruct social histories and cultural disjunctions to reflect the duality of our time. He has participated in major exhibitions including My East is Your West, a collateral event at the 56th Venice Biennale (2015); Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi (2013); Cornerhouse, Manchester (2011); Asia Society Museum, New York (2009); and Musée Guimet, Paris (2010) among others. Rana was recently appointed the artistic director of the 2017 Lahore Biennale. He is also the founding faculty member and current Dean of the School of Visual Arts and Design at the Beacon house National University in Lahore.
2016 TALKS PROGRAMME
Art and the City: A Conversation between contemporary artists from Hong Kong
Wednesday 22 March 2:00pm 3:00pm
Moderator:DOMINIQUE CHAN [Head of Gallery & Exhibition at Asia Society Hong Kong Center]
Speakers: ADRIAN WONG [Artist], MAGDALENE WONG[Artist]and ANDIO LAI[Artist]
‘Breathing Space: Contemporary Art from Hong Kong’ is an exhibition at AsiaSociety Hong Kong Center that gazes upon and dissects the pressures of living in the fast paced city of Hong Kong. The exhibition presents local artists whose work engages with urban experience, current affairs, or shared and personal history. Featured artists from the exhibition join together at Art Central to discuss common themes in each of their work.
Cultural Leadership in the 21st Century
Thursday 23 March 2:00pm-3:00pm
Moderator:YIFAWN LEE [Founder of Asian Art Hong Kong and publisher of Orientations magazine]
Speakers:TIM REEVES [Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London], TINA COLAYCO [President, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Philippines], MAUD PAGE [Deputy Director and Director of Collections, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney]
At their core, museums and cultural institutions require a philosophy and a global pedagogy which they must mutually impart to their audiences both local and international. But what key factors come into play when building a buoyant collection, a strong aesthetic, and a unique standpoint? This exclusive programme will connect and compare distinguished cultural institutions through their strategies, goals and philosophy.
Scatter In Time
Friday 24 March 12:30pm –1:30pm
Moderator: BOON HUI TAN [Vice President for Global Arts and Cultural Programs, and Director, Asia Society Museum, New York]
Speakers: RASHID RANA [Artist, Artist Director of the Lahore Biennale]
Stillness and Light: In Conversation with Hiroshi Sugimoto
Friday 24 March 2:00pm –3:00pm
Moderator: ELAINE NG [Editor and Publisher of ArtAsiaPacific]
Speakers: HIROSHI SUGIMOTO[Artist]
In this up close and personal programme, celebrated Japaneseartist Hiroshi Sugimoto will give a presentation on his life, works, and his very own Odawara Art Foundation, which is dedicated to producing and promoting classical theater arts and avant-garde stage art through public exhibitions and researching art of all genres and periods.
The Dimensions of a Needle: A Conversation with KIMSOOJA
Friday 24 March 3:30pm –4:30pm
Moderator: KIM MACHAN [Founding director of MAAP-Media ArtAsia Pacific]
Speakers: KIMSOOJA [Artist]
Korean artist Kimsooja, who blurs the boundariesbetween aesthetics, transcendence and ephemeral experience through her use of non-action, meditative practices, and serial forms, masterfully toys with the science of light to bring her sculptures and installation to life. Through both these practices and indeed her performance and video works, this discussion will provide context for the scope and character of her lambent works.
A Journey from East to West: A Retrospective Conversation with Hon Chi Fun
Saturday 25 March 1:30pm –2:30pm
Moderator: PROFESSOR FRANK VIGNERON [Head of the Graduate Division of Fine Arts at The Chinese University of Hong Kong]
Speakers: HON CHI FUN[Artist]
With a career spanning half a century, this retrospective discussion will provide the rare opportunity to converse on the deepest details of one of Hong Kong’s most respected visual artists, Hon Chi Fun.The programme will examine the trajectory of Hon’s career from his earliest works during the 50s to his latest works during the turn of the millennium.
Performance Art Central: From Politics to the Poetics
Saturday 25 March 3:00pm –4:00pm
Moderator: MIKALA TAI [Director, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney]
Speakers: ANIDA YOEU ALI [Artist], ENOCH CHENG [Artist], TOBIAS GUMANN, [Artist], AMRITA HEPI[Artist], UJI HANDOKO EKO SAPUTRO AKA HAHAN [Artist]
The Director of 4A Centre for ContemporaryAsianArt and curator ofPERFORMANCE X 4A at Art Central will lead an interactive panel discussion with four of the programme’s participating contemporary artists, each working at the heart of experimental performance. The panel will explore performance art, its role within a commercial art fair and how international trends are shaping and feeding into their art making.