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Reading List for Contemporary Art in Southeast Asia

Posted by on Thursday, 2 April, 2009 at 10:34 AM. Filed under: Reviews

flavours

It is not uncommon for me to be stumped whenever I am asked for a reading list on contemporary art in Southeast Asia. So much of what I know is acquired through fieldwork, contacts, long hours spent talking to artists, curators, historians, critics. So little of this knowledge (gossips, legends, histories, theories) has yet to be documented and written down, analysed and most importantly shared.

Yet, what little that’s already published out there is really worth looking at. Adeline Ooi of RogueArt has recently compiled an introductory reading list for anyone interested in looking at contemporary art in the region. The list is by no means exhaustive, but these books are largely accessible entry points. For those residing in Kuala Lumpur, these books are available in the resource room of Valentine Willie Fine Art, which is open to the public for browsing. Otherwise, Select Bookstore in Singapore probably stocks a number of titles. If not, please contact RogueArt (contact AT rogueart DOT asia) and they are happy to point you in the right direction.

The list in chronological order:

Indonesian Contemporary Art Now
By Marc Bollansee and Enin Supriyanto
SNP Editions, 2007
ISBN-13: 9789812481429

Indonesian Women Artists: The Curtain Opens
by Carla Bianpoen, Farah Wardani Et Al
Yayasan Seni Rupa Indonesia, 2007
ISBN-13: 9789791656207

Between Generations: 50 Years Across Modern Art in Malaysia
Beverly Yong and Hasnul J Saidon (editors)
Universiti Malaya Press, Universiti Sains Malaya Press & Valentine Willie Fine Art, 2007
ISBN: 983861348

Contemporary Art in Singapore
With Essays by Russell Storer, Gunalan Nadarajan and Eugene Tan
Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) Singapore, 2007
ISBN-13: 9789810564612
(Note: ICA Singapore is a part of LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts)

Telah Terbit (Out Now): Southeast Asian Contemporary Art Practices during the 1970s
Ahmad Mashadi
Singapore Art Museum, 2006
(Note: This is an exhibition guide and does not qualify as a book but the introduction essay for this show is insightful and really worth the read)

Art and Social Change: Contemporary Art in Asia and the Pacific
Caroline Turner (editor)
Pandanus Press, 2005
ISBN-10: 1740760468

Protest: Revolutionary Art in the Philippines, 1970-1990
By Alice Guillermo
University of Philippines Press, 2005
ISBN-10: 9715421679

Exploring Modern Indonesian Art: The Collection of Dr. Oei Hong Djien
By Helena Spanjaard & Oei Hong Djien
SNP Editions, 2004
ISBN-13:  9789812480101

Flavours: Thai Contemporary Art
By Steven Pettifor
Thavibu Gallery, 2003
ISBN-10:  9749173767

Image to Meaning: essays on Philippine Art
By Alice Guillermo
Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2001
ISBN: 9715503764

Contemporary Art in Asia: Traditions, Tensions
Essays by by Apinan Poshyananda, Thomas McEveilley, Geeta Kapur, Jim Supangkat, Marian Pastor Roces, Jae-Ryung Roe
Asia Society, 1997
ISBN-10: 0878480838

Modern Asian Art
By John Clark
University of Hawaii Press, 1998
ISBN-10: 9057040417

Southeast Asian Art Today
Joyce Fenema (editor)
Roeder Publications, 1996
ISBN-10: 9810060025

Vision and Idea – Relooking Modern Malaysian Art
T.K Sabapathy (editor)
National Art Gallery (Malaysia) 1994
ISBN: 983957201
(out of print)

Modern Art in Thailand: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
By Apinan Poshyananda
Oxford University Press, 1992
ISBN-13: 9780195885620

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13 Comments

  1. Sharon says
    03/04/2009 4:21 AM

    Great list. But missed out on Vision and Idea – Relooking Modern Malaysian Art. Published by Balai in 1997 in conjunction with the seminal exhibition of the same title. It featured a foreward by Anwar Ibrahim (still Deputy PM at the time, I believe). It’s difficult to purchase a copy of this book now, though you can find it in some libraries. At some point Balai should consider a reprint, or at least make the texts available on-line.

  2. Yusuf Martin says
    10/04/2009 8:25 AM

    I think that Vision and Idea; Relooking……. was printed in 1994 by National Art Gallery, making it 15 years old and terribly out of date now. Malaysia needs a new arts tome to cover what has transpired since that date.

  3. Sharon says
    10/04/2009 1:14 PM

    Yusuf: tomb or tome?

  4. Yusuf Martin says
    10/04/2009 5:21 PM

    probably tome, though come to think of it…………

  5. Adeline Ooi says
    17/04/2009 2:59 PM

    Thanks Guys!

    Was in a bit of a dilemma about ‘Vision and Idea’ as its been out of print and quite rare to get hold of these days. Nice Arteri people, please add Vision and Idea to list can? Thanks thanks

  6. ~whats-art~ says
    18/04/2009 4:12 AM

    Been searching for some reading material from these here parts. MPH has zilch… This is awesome! Thanx Adeline!

  7. Adeline Ooi says
    22/04/2009 2:59 PM

    Guys, Ibu Carla had kindly pointed out that we’ve missed out “Indonesian Women Artists: The Curtain Opens”.

    Indonesian Women Artists: The Curtain Opens
    by Carla Bianpoen, Farah Wardani Et Al
    Yayasan Seni Rupa Indonesia, 2007
    ISBN-13: 9789791656207

  8. admin says
    22/04/2009 3:16 PM

    oh iya, lupa dong!

    – simon

  9. Yu Ye says
    22/04/2009 10:44 PM

    If any of you are feeling super nerdy or if you are doing some in depth research this is a great site

    http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/arthistory/documents/MCAABIBFINAL2007. pdf

    its the Art History and Theory department at the University of Sydney’s working bibliography which covers contemporary art across Japan, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and so forth. I wrote an honours thesis at Sydney last year and found this to the be the most comprehensive blbliographic resource to that.

    Your main problem will probably be trying to track down a copy !

  10. admin says
    22/04/2009 10:52 PM

    oh my god… inner nerd surfacing…

    this is fantabulous! what a great resource! invaluable. thanks for sharing yu ye!

    what was your honours thesis on?? :)

    now i wanna go to sydney :P

    -simon

  11. Yu Ye says
    22/04/2009 11:01 PM

    The evolving strategies of Huang Yongping and Xu Bing.

    I wish I had enough time to come up with a better title though.

  12. Yu Ye says
    22/04/2009 11:07 PM

    Simon you should if you are planning to do a phd one day, there are lots of resources on South East Asian art and its growing. I’m not too familiar with Malaysian or Indonesian art and whether resources are available at University library collections. I think that is also part of the problem in terms of being able to access enough relevant material to embark on serious research.

  13. Simon says
    23/04/2009 12:13 AM

    Hi Yu Ye,

    I was going to apply to do a phd with the Centre of Contemporary Art and Politics over at UNSW! I wanted to write on the land project in chiangmai. but another three years in uni after my honours???? that puts things into perspective.

    in hindsight, I’m glad I didn’t and came back to the region instead… figure i would’ve been too immature to understand what i was to undertake if i were to do it then. learning something new everyday. sometime in the future i’ll go back to school but now it’s intense fieldwork every single bloody day! :D

    give us a shout out if you’re coming our way ya? i’m going to be based half in bangkok and half in KL for the next half of the year :)

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