Press release: 2024/08/29

Liquidscape: Southeast Asia Today
Date：Sep 21 ― Dec 24, 2024 at Arts Maebashi

Nawin Nuthong 2 sec before revolution in a leaf, Flux, Empty Tomb, Paper Wing
Courtesy of the artist and BANGKOK CITYCITY GALLERY.

Today, Southeast Asia is experiencing rapid economic and urban development, varying anddiversifying its lifestyles. At the same time, its history and landscapes, beliefs rooted in theland, and relationships with nature also exist as a foundation of society. They sometimes
merge and conflict, creating new realities, lifestyles, and worldviews.
The exhibition, named "Liquidscape", alludes to Southeast Asia's fluid cultural and social
landscape and aims to introduce this state of flux with 12 groups of artists. The participating
artists consist of the younger generation, including seven artists born after the 1980s. They
have experienced global events such as the end of the Cold War and the advent of technology,
including the emergence of the internet, iPhone, and social media, as well as significant
changes to the world's framework and the rise of Asia. Four female artists aim to add new
perspectives to existing values by rethinking the female body and the social position of women.
Through these experiences and visions, they reflect on Southeast Asia, a region filled withdiversity and fluidity.
The commonality found in all works is the artists' forward-looking attitudes, which seek toanswer the question of where we came from and where we are heading in this liquidscape.
Through their works, we can learn not only about an aspect of the multifaceted world that is
Southeast Asia, but also about the contradictions, chaos, hopes, and new possibilities ofcontemporary society that exist everywhere worldwide.
【Key Highlights】
1. Encounter contemporary Southeast Asia captured by 12 groups of artists
Arts Maebashi is proud to present 22 works by 12 groups, a lineup that includes
internationally acclaimed artists such as Ho Tzu Nyen and Korakrit Arunanongchai. The
young artists making their debut in Japan are equally exciting, offering fresh perspectives oncontemporary Southeast Asia. Their works, along with those of the established artists, aim tocapture the region's contemporary society, lifestyle, and culture from innovative angles,
challenging current normative values.
2. Learn the attitudes of living in the flux
Southeast Asia is a dynamic society where diverse cultures and histories intersect and are
constantly changing. Examining such a complex region can help us understand the current
world and learn how to live in today's increasingly diversified and fluid society. In contrast tocurrent exhibitions in Japan regarding the region, this exhibition mainly features artists of ayounger generation and their new works.
3. Dive into the image of the liquidscape through immersive worksThrough many immersive works with sounds and films, the exhibition will take you into theworld of the liquidscape, which is multilayered, polysemic, and endlessly shapeshifting,
impossible to seize and only able to be experienced.

【Event Outline】
Title
Liquidscape: Southeast Asia Today
Date

Sep 21 ― Dec 24, 2024

Venue
Hours

Arts Maebashi 5-1-16 Chiyoda-machi, Maebashi, Gunma 371-0022
10:00 a.m. ― 6:00 p.m. (Admission until 5:30 p.m.)

ClosedWednesdays

Admissions￥1,000：General￥800：Students, 65+ years old, and groups (10+ people)
Free：High school students and under※Free admission for disability certificate holders plus one caregiver.
※Free admission for Prefecture Citizens Day on October 28 th [Mon], Culture Day on November 3rd [Sun],and Human Rights Day on December 10th [Tues].

Participating artists

12 groups

Exhibition artworks

22

DirectorFumio Nanjo (Executive Director of Arts Maebashi)

CuratorYuka Takahashi

Organizer
Cooperation

Arts Maebashi
Singapore Art Museum, Aura Contemporary Art Foundation
100 Tonson Foundation, Project11 Foundation

Sponsored byTHE JOMO SHINBUN, Gunma TV, FM GUNMA, Maebashi
City FM, Maebashi Chamber of Commerce and Industry【Press Tour】
Date/Venue
Time

September 20, 2024 at Arts Maebashi
2:00 p.m. ― 3:30 p.m.（Reception starts from 1:30 p.m.）

Participating artists

Ho Tzu Nyen, Wit Pimkanchanapong,Nawin Nuthong, Gegerboyo, Jakkai Siributr

The director and participating artists will give a tour on exhibition artworks.
To attend, please email at: press@artsmaebashi.jp

Contact: Arts Maebashi【PR】Inami, Sakai and Ueda

TEL: 027-230-1144

Email: press@artsmaebashi.jp

Instagram: @arts_maebashi

X: @ArtsMaebashi

HP: artsmaebashi.jp/en/

【Participating Artists】
Wit Pimkanchanapong（Thailand）

Planetary Seed, 2024 Courtesy of 100 Tonson Foundation

Wit Pimkanchanapong began his studies in architecture at Chulalongkorn University. With a passion forcreation, his work merges architecture and sculpture, integrating modern technology. Beyond his artisticpursuits, Pimkanchanapong is an avid cyclist and long-distance paddler. In 2014, he founded Audax
Randonneurs Thailand, a long-distance cycling network, marking the beginning of his journey to explore
rural areas outside of urban centers in all regions of Thailand without the use of motor vehicles. This approachto understanding pre-modern landscapes, societies, and cultures has shaped his perspective on the landscapesof Thailand, influencing the content and dimensions of his current artistic practice.

Kawita Vatanajyankur（Thailand）

Shuttle, 2018 Courtesy of the artist and Nova Contemporary

In her performance videos, Kawita Vatanajyankur uses her body to interrogate and challenge the intersectionsof womanhood, labour, and consumerism. Assuming the repetitive and strenuous tasks of domestic objects
and mechanical tools, she hybridises human and machine and embodies the role of a cyborg. Drawing from a
globalized and digitally networked visual language of consumption and instant gratification, her alluring
videos bear semblance to bold and colourful commercial advertisements. Yet, her arduous works are difficult
to witness, forming a testament to human capability and female resilience.

Khadim Ali + Mumtaz Khan Chopan + Ali Froghi + Hassan Ati

Voice and Noise, 2023

Khadim Ali（Pakistan）Born in 1978 in Pakistan. Currently lives and works in Sydney, Australia and Kabul, Afghanistan.
Khadim was trained in classical miniature painting at the National College of Arts in Lahore and in mural painting andcalligraphy in Tehran. His work traces the history of his ethnicity and other minorities who have been subjected todiscrimination, persecution and ethnic cleansing.
Mumtaz Khan Chopan（Afghanistan）Born in 1990 in Afghanistan. In 2013, Chopan was forced to flee his homecountry of Afghanistan due to war and discrimination. He is based in the city of Yogyakarta where he continues his art
practices. His works come from deep personal experiences and collective memories of displacement, uncertainty, andvirtual life.
Ali Froghi（Afghanistan）Born in 1995 in Afghanistan. Froghi is a Hazara self-taught photographer and filmmaker. For
the last 10 years, he lived in Indonesia as a refugee. His works showcase the daily lives of refugees in Indonesia.
Hassan Ati（Afghanistan）Born in 1995 in Afghanistan. Ati is a Hazara self-taught photographer. For the last 8 years, helived in Pekanbaru Riau, Indonesia, as a refugee. His works showcase the daily lives of refugees in Indonesia.

Korakrit Arunanondchai（Thailand）

Photo by Harit Srikhao

Songs for dying (still), 2021 Co-commissioned by the 13th Gwangju Biennale, Han Nefkens Foundationand Kunsthall Trondheim. Courtesy of the artist, BANGKOK CITYCITY GALLERY, Bangkok, Carlos/Ishikawa, London, C L E
A R I N G, New York/Brussels, Kukje Gallery, South Korea

Born in 1986. Lives and works in New York, USA and Bangkok, Thailand. A visual artist, filmmaker andstoryteller, Korakrit Arunanondchai employs his versatile practice to tell stories embedded in culturaltransplantation and hybridity. His body of work merges fiction with poetry and offers synesthetic experiences
engaged in a multitude of subjects primarily based on lives of family, friends, and colleagues as much as localmyths.

Citra Sasmita（Indonesia）

Courtesy of the Artist. Photo by Gus Agung, Niskala Studio

Timur Merah Project; Ode to the Sun, 2020
Courtesy of Yeo Workshop. Photo by Ahmad Iskandar.

Citra Sasmita is a contemporary artist from Bali whose work focuses on unravelling the myths andmisconceptions of Balinese art and culture. She is also deeply invested in questioning a woman’s place inthe social hierarchy and seeks to upend the normative construct of gender.

Charles Lim （Singapore）

Courtesy of STPI. Photo by Toni Cuhadi.

SEASTATE6: Phase1, 2015 Courtesy of the artist.

Charles Lim Yi Yong (b 1973, Singapore) studied Fine Art at Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design,London. A former competitive sailor, Lim's practice stems from his bodily engagement with the natural world,
mediated and informed by field research and experimentation in various media.

Nawin Nuthong（Thailand）

Empty Tomb, 2024 Courtesy of the Artist and BANGKOK CITYCITY GALLERY.

Nawin Nuthong is a Thai contemporary artist and curator exploring the connections between history andcultural media through a wide range of mediums. Melding myths and legends with pop-cultural referencesfrom video games, comics, and film, he examines how the role technology has to play in reconfiguring thelearning and understanding of history. He is a graduate from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology
Ladkrabang with a major in film studies and digital media.

Natasha Tontey（Indonesia）

Photo by Leandro Quintero

Garden Amidst the Flame, 2022Natasha Tontey is an artist based between Yogyakarta and Jakarta. Her artistic practice predominantly
explores the fictional accounts of the history and myths surrounding ‘manufactured fear.’ In her practice,
she observes any possibilities of other futures that are projected not from the perspective of major andestablished institutions, but a subtle and personal struggle of the outcast entities and beings.

Ho Tzu Nyen（Singapore）

Courtesy of Singapore Art Museum

Ho Tzu Nyen《CDOSEA (The Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia)》2017–ongoing
In collaboration with Sebastian Lütgert and Jan Gerber (programming), and Bani
Haykal (vocals). Screen capture of website courtesy of the artist and Kiang Malingue.

Born in 1976 in Singapore, where he lives and works. Steeped in numerous Eastern and Western culturalreferences ranging from art history to theatre, and from cinema to music to philosophy, Ho Tzu Nyen’sworks blend mythical narratives and historical facts to mobilise different understandings of history, its
writing and its transmission. The central theme of his œuvre is a long-term investigation of the plurality ofcultural identities in Southeast Asia, a region so multifaceted in terms of its languages, religions, culturesand influences that it is impossible to reduce it to a simple geographical area or some fundamental historicalbase.

Mech Choulay + Mech Sereyrath（Cambodia）

Mother of River, 2022

A Cambodian sister artist group. Choulay, the older sister, is a filmmaker and journalist focusing on
environmental and animal rights. Sereyrath, the younger sister, is an emerging visual storyteller, whose
short film The Expired was screened in the Busan Film Festival in 2023.

Gegerboyo（Indonesia）

Bloom in Agony, 2022

Established in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in 2017 with five artists, GEGERBOYO is currently on a run by EnkaKomariah, Prihatmoko Moki and Anjali Nayenggita. Gegerboyo takes much inspiration from contemporary
urban culture, street art, politics, and social and traditional culture. The name is taken from the hill on
Mount Merapi. This hill protects the community around Mount Merapi from eruptions and hot clouds.
Geger Boyo is Javanese; GEGER means back, and BOYO means crocodile, so Geger Boyo means “the backof the crocodile”.

Jakkai Siributr（Thailand）

Airborne (Phra Nakorn) Courtesy of CHAT (Centre for Heritage Arts & Textiles, Hong Kong)

Jakkai Siributr is known primarily for his textile and embroidery works, and his installations increasinglyoffer an element of audience participation. Siributr is concerned with the unofficial histories that have been
written out of Thai account as well as intersections between personal and regional histories. He creates adelicate tension between his subject matter — ongoing conflict driven by nationalistic discrimination
against minorities — and the visual sensuality of his chosen form and materials.

【Related Programs】

Gallery talk by Fumio Nanjo (Executive Director)
Date

Sep 29th, Dec 21st

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Venue

Gallery space, Arts Maebashi

Price

Free

Capacity

30 people（Pre-registration required. First-come-first-served basis）*Admission ticket required*Registration starts from August 26th [Mon] on the Arts Maebashi website

Curator’s talk on exhibiting artworks
Date

Oct 14th, Nov 17th, Dec 7th

Venue

Archive, Arts Maebashi

Price

Free

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

*Admission ticket required*Register on the Arts Maebashi website【PR Images】
The images shown in this release are available for publicity purposes.
If you wish to use them, please apply through the link or QR code below.
https://logoform.jp/form/dWZu/649283*We will send you the URL and ID/PASS for downloading after your application.

Requests Regarding Article Publication*Please indicate the name of the exhibition and the period of the exhibition when publishing.
*When publishing images, please add accurate captions and credits near the images.
*Please send articles and VTRs to Arts Maebashi for archival purposes.
*Please be sure to contact us in advance for any interviews or recordings.
*Images are to be used only for publicity purposes related to this exhibition. Personal use for social media
and blogs is not allowed.

Number

Credit and Caption
Korakrit Arunanondchai, Songs for dying (still), 2021

【１】

Co-commissioned by the 13th Gwangju Biennale, Han Nefkens Foundation and Kunsthall Trondheim. Courtesy of the artist,BANGKOK CITYCITY GALLERY, Bangkok, Carlos/Ishikawa, London, C L E A R I N G, New York/Brussels, Kukje Gallery, SouthKorea.

Korakrit Arunanondchai & Alex Gvojic, Songs for living (still), 2021

【２】

【３】

【４】

Commissioned by Migros Museum and Kunstverein Hamburg with support from FACT Liverpool. Courtesy of the artist, BANGKOKCITYCITY GALLERY, Bangkok, Carlos/Ishikawa, London, C L E A R I N G, New York/Brussels, Kukje Gallery, South Korea.

Kawita Vatanajyankur, My Mother and I (Vacuum III), 2021
Courtesy of the artist and Nova Contemporary.

Kawita Vatanajyankur, Shuttle, 2018
Courtesy of the artist and Nova Contemporary.

Ho Tzu Nyen《CDOSEA (The Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia)》2017–ongoing【５】

In collaboration with Sebastian Lütgert and Jan Gerber(programming), and Bani Haykal (vocals). Screen capture of website courtesy ofthe artist and Kiang Malingue.

【６】
【７】

Citra Sasmita, Timur Merah Project Ⅲ ; Ode to the Sun, 2020
Photo by Ahmad Iskandar, courtesy of Yeo Workshop.

Nawin Nuthong, Empty Tomb, 2024
Courtesy of the artist and BANGKOK CITYCITY GALLERY.

Liquidscape: Southeast Asia Today【８】

Artwork: Nawin Nuthong

Poster

2 sec before revolution in a leaf, Flux, Empty Tomb, Paper Wing

Courtesy of the artist and BANGKOK CITYCITY GALLERY

Contact: Arts Maebashi【PR】Inami, Sakai and Ueda

TEL: 027-230-1144

Email: press@artsmaebashi.jp

Instagram: @arts_maebashi

X: @ArtsMaebashi

HP: artsmaebashi.jp/en/PR Images
【１】

【２】

【３】

【４】

【５】

【７】

【６】

【８】