Cultivating an Arts Community in the 21st Century
The 2017 Arts & Museum Summit, jointly organized by Asia Society, New York, and Asia Society Philippines Center, successfully took place at Areté, Ateneo de Manila University, and Ayala Museum on November 6 and 7. The third biennial Summit welcomed more than 120 arts professionals representing 20 countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Palestine, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Tibet, the United States, and Vietnam.
The two-day Summit focused on Cultivating an Arts Community in the 21st Century, by examining current issues faced by cultural institutions in audience engagement, community building, learning initiatives, and utilizing recent technologies. Discussion topics included Sustainable Arts Institutions, Diversity in Audience and Programming, Historical Narratives and Peacemaking in Museums, and Local Identities in a Global Context, among others. This year’s Summit was headlined by opening and closing keynote remarks from Jack Persekian, founder and director of Al Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary Art in Jerusalem, and Melati Suryodarmo, performance artist and artistic director of the 2017 Jakarta Biennale, respectively. Both local and international participants were highly energized by the gathering and actively shared the experiences of their home organizations to enrich the conversation, fulfilling a key part of the mission of Asia Society Museum: The Asia Arts & Museum Network initiative.
For the pre- and post-Summit caravans, the international guests at the Summit visited local state and private museums, alternative art spaces, and galleries to gain insight into the art scene in the Philippines.