Talk | Photography and Cold War in Southeast Asia: Preliminary Thoughts with Zhuang Wubin

 [Talk] Photography and Cold War in Southeast Asia: Preliminary Thoughts with Zhuang Wubin

Date: Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Time: 7.00pm - 8.00pm
Venue: NUS Museum 

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Free with registration at http://ptix.co/2rWIVts

This is a preliminary presentation, a kind of show-and-tell, based on writer, curator and artist Zhuang Wubin's recent book, Photography in Southeast Asia: A Survey (NUS Press, 2016). Zhuang’s primary intention is to share with the audience some of the materials that he has accumulated during his decade-long fieldwork relating, directly or indirectly, to the different facets of photographic production during the Cold War period. The aim is to unpack the varying ways in which photography was being mobilised, subject to personal and institutional desires.

This talk is organised in conjunction with the exhibitions “Who wants to remember a war?” and LINES: War Drawings and Posters from the Ambassador Dato’ N. Parameswaran Collection, which features posters, woodcuts and drawings from the French phase of the Indochina war of resistance against the Americans, and drawings and sketches of life and people at the frontlines.

About the speaker
As a writer/curator, Zhuang Wubin focuses on the photographic practices in Southeast Asia. A 2010 recipient of the research grant from Prince Claus Fund (Amsterdam), Zhuang is an editorial board member of Trans-Asia Photography Review, a journal published by the Hampshire College and the University of Michigan Scholarly Publication Office. He has been invited to research residency programmes at Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong (2015) and Institute Technology of Bandung (2013). He is the contributing curator of the biennial Chiang Mai Photo Festival (2015, 2017). Published by NUS Press, Photography in Southeast Asia: A Survey (2016) is his fourth book.

As an artist, Zhuang uses photography and text to visualise the Sinophone communities in Southeast Asia.

Zhuang has made presentations, exhibited work, curated shows and taught classes at: Doctoral Program in Art Creation and Theory, Tainan National University of the Arts (2017); Soulangh Cultural Park, Tainan (2017); Photo Symposium Asia, Kuala Lumpur (2017); MA in Fine Arts, Chinese University of Hong Kong (2017); Hong Kong Art School (2017); Penang Institute, Malaysia (2017); Bangkok Art & Culture Centre (2017); Art Stage Singapore 2017; Yeo Workshop, Singapore (2016); Hong Kong Design Institute (2016); Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology, Thammasat University, Bangkok (2016, 2017); MA in Asian Art Histories, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016); Lianzhou Foto 2015, Guangdong; Faculty of Fine Arts, Chiang Mai University (2015); Sabah Museum (2015); Sharjah Art Museum, UAE (2014); ZeroStation, Saigon (2013, 2014); Nanyang Academy of Fine Art, Singapore (2012-14); Museum of Modern Art, New York (2013); Run Amok Gallery, Penang (2013); Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University (2013); MA in Visual Culture Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong (2013); Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore (2012); Department of Chinese Studies, National University of Singapore (2012); Lumenvisum, JCCAC, Hong Kong (2012, 2017); Photoquai 2011, Musée du Quai Branly, Paris; Langgeng Art Foundation, Yogyakarta (2011); Selasar Sunaryo Art Space, Bandung (2011); 2nd Luang Prabang International Image Biennial (2010); Jakarta International Photo Summit, National Gallery of Indonesia (2010); Antara Photojournalism Gallery, Jakarta (2010); Yangon Photo Festival (2009); National Institute of Fine Arts, Vientiane (2009); Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center, Phnom Penh (2009); National Centre of Contemporary Art, Moscow (2008); Month of Photography, Galeri CCCL Surabaya (2008); Ballina Arts Centre, Ireland (2007); Chobi Mela III, Drik Gallery, Dhaka (2004).

Image : Ðỗ Huân, Tearing Up the Enemy’s Slogan, 1949. Photograph. Image courtesy of Zhuang Wubin.