Festival Reform: Making Changes, Moving Forward
VIEW EVENT DETAILSWebinar Discussion with Boon Hui TAN and Ying KWOK
- Webinar Discussion with Boon Hui TAN and Ying KWOK
- Monday, October 20th, 8am (New York)
- Monday, October 20th, 8pm (Hong Kong)
- Online Webinar. Free Admission.
Biennales, triennials, festivals and fairs are the culmination of a consortium of artists, curators, program directors and partners, among others, who work diligently to bring to life the arts in a multitude of forms. At the heart of these events is the congregation of large audiences taking part in, discussing and embracing art, culture and community firsthand. So what happens when the traditional festival setting takes on a new form? Whether partially or fully online, with virtual exhibitions, zoom webinars and guest restrictions; how does this alter the way in which these events are organized and experienced? In this webinar we will hear the perspectives of Boon Hui Tan and Ying Kwok, both of whom are in the depths of navigating this new reality. The conversation will be moderated by Tiffany Wai-Ying Beres.
Boon Hui Tan is vice president for global artistic programs at Asia Society and director of Asia Society Museum, where he leads the organization’s global arts and cultural activities spanning visual arts, performing arts, literary arts, and film. As museum director, he oversees Asia Society Museum’s acclaimed exhibition programs and the Asia Society Museum Collection, which comprises the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection of traditional Asian art and the contemporary art collection of works by Asian and Asian American artists. Additionally, he oversees Asia Society Museum’s Arts & Museum Summit. Prior to this, he was assistant chief executive (museum & programs) at the National Heritage Board (NHB) in Singapore, where he oversaw exhibitions, programs, and outreach events across the Board’s museums, institutions, and divisions. In 2015, he was artistic director for Singapour en France, le Festival, the largest multidisciplinary presentation of contemporary culture from Singapore and Southeast Asia in France.
Ying Kwok is an independent curator based in Hong Kong. She works with a diverse range of art and cultural institutions locally and internationally, from artist’s initiatives, art festivals, to public museums and the commercial sector. She always synthesizes different art forms in contemporary visual art, from site specific commissions, performances, to film and video. Kwok is the curator for Contagious Cities: Far Away, Too Close for Tai Kwun Contemporary and Wellcome Trust, the lead curator of LOOK International Photography Festival 2017, and curator at M+ for Samson Young: Songs for Disaster Relief as Hong Kong presentation at the 57th Venice Biennale. Kwok also founded Art Appraisal Club with a group of local art professionals in 2014. The group provides regular exhibition reviews and their articles are published in magazines, various cultural networks and their own bilingual journal, Art Review Hong Kong. and 2012.
Tiffany Wai-Ying Beres is Asian contemporary art specialist and art historian. Her area of research is Chinese ink painting, with a special focus on the digital humanities and visual culture in its global context. In addition to working as a curator and exhibition planner, Ms. Beres seeks to make humanities scholarship more public-facing, collaborative and impactful through the use of digital technologies. Beres has worked with museums and institutions around the world such as the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, the Hong Kong University Museum and Art Gallery, the Pagoda Paris in France, the Today Art Museum in Beijing, and many more. Previously, Ms. Beres was based in Beijing, where for ten years she worked with artists and published extensively about topics in Asian contemporary art. She is currently completing her PhD dissertation on modern Chinese painting.