In the Public Eye: The Art of Creative Activism
VIEW EVENT DETAILSTALKS X Asia Society - Art Central Series
Discussion 2:30pm
Close 3:30pm
Art at its best can make a viewer feel or think. The unique aspect of performance art is that it can establish a direct connection with the public/non-art inclined audiences in order to engage with issues and generate social change/awareness. This panel will focus on the art of creative activism, and the role of performance art in employing public spaces as their alternative to traditional museum settings. Moderated by curator, cultural producer, and author Cosmin Costinas, the panel will feature the Director of 4A Center for Contemporary Asian Art, Mikala Tai, as well as performance artists Kacey Wong and Sampson Wong (of Add Oil!) who were chosen due to their collective backgrounds in artistic curation, creation and activism in relation to performing arts.
Mikala Tai is the director of 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney. She is a curator, researcher and academic specializing in contemporary Asian art and Australian design, who over the past decade has collaborated with local, national and international organizations to strengthen ties between Australia and Asia. Curatorial projects include Closing The Gap: Contemporary Indonesian Art (2011) at Melbourne International Fine Art (MIFA) when she was director; Yang Yongliang (2009) at 45 Downstairs, Melbourne; public programs for Swimming in Sand; Growing Rice under an Umbrella (2014) at No Vacancy Gallery, Melbourne.
Dr. Kacey Wong (1970) was born in Hong Kong. He studied architecture in Cornell University and received his master of fine arts degree from Chelsea School of Art and Design and doctor of fine arts degree from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He is the founding member of Art Citizens, Street Design Union, Umbrella Movement Art Preservation, and former curator & member of Para/Site Art Space. He is also a former assistant professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, School of Design’s Environment and Interior Design Discipline. Currently he is an examiner of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. His research investigates artist’s and designer’s role in social-political causes.
Sampson Wong, (b. 1985), is a Hong Kong based artist, academic and independent curator, lecturer at the Liberal Arts Department of the The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Sampson Wong's work focuses on contemporary urbanism, socially engaged art and rebel creativity.
Cosmin Costinas (b. 1982, Romania) is the executive director/curator of Para Site, Hong Kong since 2011 and guest curator of Dakar Biennale 2018, La Biennale de l’Art africain contemporain, DAK’ART (2018). He was guest curator at the Dhaka Art Summit 18’ (2018), co-curator of the 10th Shanghai Biennale (2014), curator of BAK-basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht (2008-2011), co-curator of the 1st Ural Industrial Biennial, Ekaterinburg (2010), and editor of documenta 12 Magazines, documenta 12, Kassel (2005–2007). Other curatorial projects include ‘After the Final Simplification of Ruins. Forms of Historiography in Given Places’, Centro Cultural Montehermoso Kulturunea, Vitoria-Gasteiz (2009) and ‘Like an Attali Report, but different. On fiction and political imagination’, Kadist Art Foundation, Paris (2008).
Event Details
Central Harbourfront Event Space, 9 Lung Wo