“Identities versus Globalisation?”
Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Berlin.
The Heinrich Böll Foundation is an organisation affiliated with the German Green Party. It’s office in Thailand set out with a truly innovative approach to use the various art forms as a vehicle to promote social, gender, and environmental equity as well as citizen’s participation in development. This serves to open channels of debate, providing a platform for discourse in Southeast Asia and Europe.
The culmination of this endeavour, which dates back to the year 2000, is the exhibition “Identities versus Globalisation?” that has its inauguration at the Chiang Mai Art Museum on February 6th, 2004. The exhibition will then travel to Bangkok’s National Gallery in May and to Berlin in October, where it will be on display at the Dahlem Museums for three month.
The exhibition draws together 60 artists from all 10 ASEAN countries in an unprecedented artistic display of the regions diverse perceptions that delves into the realities of modernisation and its ramifications. In addition to the vivacious art and media installations exhibited, the show will be enhanced with a range of theatrical displays and performing arts by local thespians and artists alike.
Following the vernissage, invited guests will gather to discuss pertinent issues suggested by the title both for the region and beyond. This provides the opportunity for the public to listen and engage in the debates in symposium and workshop settings, to consider important issues pertaining to the politics of culture, identity and globalisation. Two focus workshops will consider the ramifications of religious fundamentalisms and national identity construction as particular playing fields of identity politics.
Travels in art, culture and debate – “Identities versus Globalisation?”
The art works submitted for this discourse-orientated exhibition represent a journey through the regions multi-dimensional cultures both past and present. Additionally, they betray the thoughts and fears of the artist, mirroring those of the communities from which they came, on the questions of globalization and identity and the manner in which they are becoming increasingly entwined.
The lesser-developed nations of ASEAN, like Cambodia, Laos and Burma/Myanmar display art works rooted more traditionally both conceptually and in its execution, utilising canvas, paint and brush. The diverse styles of the respective pieces display an artistic coming of age within these countries, of standing on the threshold between traditional values and the wider globalized world. They also reflect a concern with respect to the potential multifaceted impacts globalisation will have on their cultures.
In contrast to this, the more affluent countries, those of Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand demonstrate an all-together more audacious approach to art encouraged by media and access to information. This encompasses all together more relaxed perspectives on the issues in question and incorporates, in some cases, a gentle mocking humour that belays an existence in the comfort zone perhaps born out of increased familiarity with the impacts of globalisation.
This simple dichotomy whilst poignant if analysed at a deeper level, sells short the vast cultural, ethnic and religious diversity present in the ASEAN region. The art on display at ‘Identities versus Globalisation?’ attempts to redress that balance by working with artist’s from all 10 countries, each with an individual message and a distinct style providing the volume for that voice.
Far from being yet another opportunity to peruse a gallery and pass a few lazy hours, ‘Identities versus Globalisation?’ raises the stakes by confronting the identity of each individual attendee. During the opening ceremony, performances from regional theatre groups and the artists themselves seek to tax your mind and force you to question perspectives with which you have perhaps become a little too familiar, a mite too comfortable. Then there remains the art questioning and beckoning.
This leads the way to a range of discussion forums and debates that are conducted in parallel with the exhibition. Artists, art managers, academics, activists and indeed anyone with an opinion to voice are invited to discuss the implications and political perspectives of the globalisation and identity debate. With all this complete, then there remains the art, questioning and beckoning…
Any one who has travelled within Southeast Asia will take away warm memories of landscapes and people that will remain deeply engrained until their final days. We hope, in some small way to replicate that journey in art and debate.
Does life imitate art or does art imitate life? Come along and decide for yourself.