Streets of Thailand were crowded with students, activists, and artists to fight for the reform of the monarchy system and constitution in 2020. Thanom Chapakdee, as an art critic who was concerned about the future of the Thai contemporary art, shared with us what he had witnessed in the current protests and his action along with other artists to join the movement during the pandemic, as well as the impacts of the current democratic movement and COVID-19 on Thai art community.

Thanom Chapakdee

Thanom Chapakdee is a lecturer at Srinakharinwirot University in Bangkok, Thailand. He is also an independent art critic and artistic director of Khon Kaen Manifesto, a Thai regional contemporary art festival, and Wai Art, an alternative art space. His past experiences focus on the engagement of arts in the community. His research also involves visual art, contemporary asian art, art history and urban studies.

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◼︎ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thanom.chapakdee

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Supported by Ministry of Culture, Taiwan

With most galleries forced to close due to the pandemic, galleries in Thailand have now reopened to the public again. And there was the Bangkok Art Biennale too. Jongsuwat Angsuvarnsiri, the managing director of SAC gallery gives us a glimpse of the recovery and the bloom of the art market in Bangkok. And how SAC gallery has been using different digital methods and platforms to create interactions with artists and audiences.

SAC Gallery

SAC Gallery is an art space aiming to promote Thai art and artists, and to give them the opportunity and venue to exhibit their creativity and visions. Based in Bangkok, it aims to give people the chance to enjoy art in its various forms, to learn more about it and to experience inspired pieces that they may not usually have the chance to experience. SAC wants to encourage local artists in their endeavours and to help strengthen the local art community.

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◼︎ Website: https://www.sac.gallery/

◼︎ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sacbangkok

◼︎ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sacbangkok/

◼︎ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/SacArtsChanel

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Supported by Ministry of Culture, Taiwan

When the Vietnames government used the V-pop song ‘Ghen Co Vy’ to encourage people to wash hands, Elise Luong and other three artists Ian Richter, Jo aka Ngô Kỳ Duyên and Đoàn Thanh Toàn, conducted an experimental performance to question the intangible effects of COVID-19. They have raised the question to all of us: “ What does it mean to perform now?”

Undecided Productions

Undecided Production is a Brussels-born production house, but now based in Hanoi, Vietnam. It supports all mediums of art production including visual arts, performance and music producing a variety of locally interested and internationally focused events ranging from exhibitions, workshops to parties and publications. It also aims to craft a community that supports and appreciates the local arts scene by creating a platform for productions to be diffused locally and internationally.

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◼︎ Website: https://undecided-productions.com/

◼︎ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UndecidedProductions/

◼︎ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livemakeshare/

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Supported by Ministry of Culture, Taiwan

Actions inspire actions. With graphic design becoming an important medium to disseminate public health information, And A Half is thinking something different, something further. Petrina Gana, the Head of Research & Development and design strategist shared with us how they redefined what ‘design’ can be for a better society. And how a design studio like And A Half stepped out the comfort zone, collaborated with different sectors and made an impact during the pandemic.

And A Half

And a Half is a brand consultancy and design studio based in Manila, Philippines, that builds brands and finds solutions with start-ups, corporations, and communities. The brands we create are made to solve problems and create new forms of value.

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◼︎ Website: https://and-a-half.ph/

◼︎ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andahalfph/

◼︎ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andahalfph/

◼︎ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/designdialogues

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Supported by Ministry of Culture, Taiwan

When the whole city was under lockdown, schools were closed, and students were required to join classes online, all of a sudden, the burden fell under the parent’s shoulders.

Czyka Tumaliuan is a bookstore owner, maker, writer, curator, and a single mother. She shared with us how she managed to ‘survive’ with her daughter and gathered over 1,300 people in the ‘Lockdown Lab’ program to initiate different projects in response to the pandemic, including making face shields, journalist protection kits, public health videos and there’s much more they’ve done…..

Kwago 

Kwago is an independent research and publishing laboratory based in the Philippines. It develops exhibitions, publications, programs and projects to create spaces centered on community, collaboration and collective reimagining of authorship, access and distribution. It believes in the power of paper, ink and code as tools for the practice of freedom.

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◼︎ Website: https://isipkwago.carrd.co/

◼︎ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/isipkwago/

◼︎ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isipkwago/

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Supported by Ministry of Culture, Taiwan

Despite the wealth health care system and a resource-limited country, Cambodia’s response strategy has made it a COVID successful story. However, while life in Cambodia is pretty much back to normal, the performing art industry is still suffering from the aftermath of the pandemic. The dancer Belle Sodhahachivy Chumvan told us how she managed to use videos and livestreaming to continue her dance practices with students and community.

Belle Sodhachivy Chumvan 

Belle Sodhachivy Chumvan began training in Cambodian classical dance in 1994 focusing mainly on the male role of the all female classical court form but is also proficient in Cambodian folk dance and shadow puppetry. Locally, she is a lecturer at the Faculty of Choreography Arts in Phnom Penh and a choreographer/dancer at Amrita Performing Arts.

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◼︎ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chumvansodhachivy

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Supported by Ministry of Culture, Taiwan

It all started when the fridge broke down, and it was time for Alecia, Kei and Jevon to rethink how we shared spaces with others under the same roof, since now we have more time to talk and take a closer look to the people we live with. And perhaps, it was also a good time to relax our mind and body, and reflect upon our inner self. Especially there are many ‘pandemics’ at the same time: COVID-19, mental health problem, climate change, and information explosion……

BRACK

BRACK is a platform for socially engaged artists and their work, gathering projects, people, and ideas that feed life. Based in Singapore, BRACK does something new here in the discourse of arts, culture, and society. They’re interested in how art can address an issue of importance and create a significant space for individual and collective agency.

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◼︎ Website: https://www.brack.sg/

◼︎ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heybrack

◼︎ Instagram: https://www.brack.sg/

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Produced by Bamboo Curtain Studio

Supported by Ministry of Culture, Taiwan

Since we are having more time at home, people are trying different recipes. Cooking has become a great pastime for new experiments. So did Monika and Shilfina. But they dug deeper with the food we ate. They shared not only their creative recipes with readers around Indonesia and the globe but also the stories behind and their survival strategies during lockdown. And they know how it is like to have meals together online and have a birthday party.

BAKUDAPAN

BAKUDAPAN is a study group that discusses ideas about food. Based in Indonesia, it believes that food is not merely about filling the stomach. Moreover, food is not restricted about cooking, history, conservation and the ambition to introduce it to the world. It can be an instrument to speak about broader issues, such as politics, social, gender, economy, philosophy, art, and culture.

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◼︎ Website: http://bakudapan.com/

◼︎ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bakudapan/

◼︎ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bakudapan/

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Produced by Bamboo Curtain Studio

Supported by Ministry of Culture, Taiwan

Indonesia is among one of the most serious countries with COVID-19 in Asia. But it doesn’t stop the art energy in Yogyakarta. For Linda and Zikri, all the projects initiated by Cemeti Art House, from “impossible project”, “Rhizomatic Archipelago”, “Sebarsip”, to ‘Toko Buku Liong”, they are now turning to question what the pandemic means to the art world with their art actions and tackle the challenges that Indonesian art community is facing at the moment?

Cemeti Art House

Cemeti Art House is Indonesia’s oldest platform for contemporary art, founded in Yogyakarta, Indonesia in 1988 by artists Mella Jaarsma and Nindityo Adipurnomo. Cemeti offers a platform for artists and cultural practitioners to develop, present and practice their work in close collaboration with curators, researchers, activists, writers and performers, as well as local communities across Yogyakarta. It commits to engage socially and politically engaged artistic practices, exploring the possibility for a gallery to act as a site for civic action.

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◼︎ Website: https://www.cemeti.org/

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Produced by Bamboo Curtain Studio

Supported by Ministry of Culture, Taiwan

Like the United States, there was the general election in Myanmar in the beginning of November, 2020. But with cases continuing to surge and people were advised to stay home, Zun Ei Phyu shared with us how she continued to work with the community and explored the concept of fear through art. And how has the pandemic changed the election scene and daily life in Yangon?

Zun Ei Phyu

Zun Ei Phyu is a visual artist specialising in paper-cutting and a medical doctor by training from Yangon, Myanmar. She works in multimedia formats to address challenges facing Myanmar society, such as the education system, obstacles to the advancement of women, and religious tension.

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◼︎ Website: https://www.zuneiphyu-artist.com/

◼︎ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artistzuneiphyu

◼︎ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zunei/

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Produced by Bamboo Curtain Studio

Supported by Ministry of Culture, Taiwan