NTU CCA Ideas Fest 2020

The NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore and the New Museum are pleased to announce the schedule and participants for the second edition of the NTU CCA Ideas Fest, IdeasCity Singapore, guest-curated by IdeasCity and taking place in Singapore and across Southeast Asia from February 15–22, 2020. 

Building upon NTU CCA Singapore’s research theme, “Climates. Habitats. Environments.,” and IdeasCity’s exploration of the role of art and culture beyond the walls of the museum, IdeasCity Singapore will examine the urgency of solidarity in negating climate change and its impact on Southeast Asia and communities worldwide. IdeasCity Singapore will include satellite programs in the region, a residency program, and a seminar series centered on Solidarity with Nature.

Satellite Programs
Responding to the transnational context of the climate crisis in which artists, activists, and scholars around the world are working today, IdeasCity Singapore will co-host a series of free public workshops from February 15–22, 2020 in collaboration with partner organizations across Southeast Asia. The workshops will speculate on connections between the built environment, the natural world, and social movements.

The Land Foundation
Chiang Mai, Thailand
February 15, 2020, 12–8pm
This solar cooker workshop at the Land Foundation—a self-sustaining artistic and social environment—led by artist Rirkrit Tiravanija in collaboration with chef Andy Ricker and local rice farmers will explore traditional Thai recipes and the ritual of preparing food off the grid, through heat from the sun.

Malaysia Design Archive
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
February 16, 2020, 8–10pm
Who writes history? This archival workshop at the Malaysia Design Archive, a site dedicated to the preservation of Malaysia’s design traditions in Kuala Lumpur, will identify power structures that shape collective memory and “unbox” muted parts of Malaysia’s natural and cultural past through the practice of mind-mapping.

House of Natural Fiber
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
February 18, 2020, 6–10pm
This workshop at media art laboratory the House of Natural Fiber will test new ideas for open-source community collaboration that address the climate crisis in Indonesia.

Sàn Art
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
February 19, 2020, 4–10pm
Showcasing work by emerging filmmakers Pham Ngoc Lan, Quynh Dong, Thuy-Han Nguyen-Chi, and Nguyen Hai Yen (Red), this screening series at independent project space Sàn Art will examine the portrayal of nature in contemporary Vietnamese cinema.

The Forest Curriculum & Nomina Nuda
Los Baños, the Philippines
February 19–20, 2020, 9am–6pm
Led by artists Christian Tablazon and Tan Zi Hao in collaboration with the Forest Curriculum, a nomadic platform for interdisciplinary research, this two-day workshop at artist-run space Nomina Nuda will examine the natural history of the Malay Peninsula, drawing connections between colonial rule, authoritarian design, and indigenous wildlife.

New Naratif
newnaratif.com
February 22, 2020
Commissioned and edited in collaboration with New Naratif, a digital platform for democracy, freedom of information, and freedom of expression in Southeast Asia, this publication series will feature works of speculative fiction and comics that explore how climate change is shaping social movements across Southeast Asia.

Residency Program
From February 15–22, 2020, IdeasCity Singapore will host a weeklong residency program for emerging practitioners working at the intersection of art, ecology, and urbanism. IdeasCity Singapore Residency Fellows are: Francisco Brown (ADPD MDes, Harvard GSD), Jane Chang Mi, Kar-men Cheng, Chloe C. Chotrani, Calvin Chua, Fataah T. Dihaan, ila, Heider Ismail, Lily Kwong, Michelle Lai, Kwan Q Li, Clarissa Ai Ling Lee, Chong Lingying, Angela Mayrina (ADPD MDes, Harvard GSD), John Kenneth Paranada, Patricia Sayuri, Pen Sereypagna, Shahmen Suku, Ruby Thiagarajan, Dat Vu, Nikan Wasinondh (Bow), and Jason Wee. 

Seminar Program
On February 22, 2020 at NTU CCA Singapore, IdeasCity Singapore will present and broadcast a series of dialogues between local and international artists and community leaders on topics including food sovereignty (Angela Dimayuga and Emeka Ogboh), underground archives (Heman Chong and Monica Narula of Raqs Media Collective), image and power (Ho Rui An and Shumon Basar), ecofeminism (Marwa Arsanios and Vanessa Ho), and traces of migration (Bouchra Khalili and Alfian Sa'at). A sequence of debate circles will examine the roles of solidarity and speculation in addressing climate injustice, featuring interdisciplinary perspectives from speakers such as Kunlé Adeyemi, Becca D’Bus, Eleena Jamil, Prasoon Kumar, Zarina Muhammad, and David Teh.

Workshops and conversations facilitated by Bakudapan Food Study Group, Pamela Low, and Singapore Community Radio, and a presentation of new VR work by artist Rindon Johnson will invite select audiences to engage directly with artists envisioning pathways to equitable and sustainable futures. The program will also feature screenings, showings, and remarks by performance artists ila and Shahmen Suku; Digital Minister of Taiwan, Audrey Tang; and professor of sociology Saskia Sassen.

For more information

ArtReview is Exclusive Arts Media Partner, and Domus is Design Media Partner of NTU CCA Ideas Fest 2020.

NTU CCA Ideas Fest 2020 is guest-curated by IdeasCity, New Museum, New York.

IdeasCity Singapore is conceived and organized by Vere van Gool with Gabe Gordon, Nicholas Liong, Gregory Ng Yong He, and Karen Wong at the New Museum, and Ute Meta Bauer, Karin Oen, Magdalena Magiera, Leong Min Yu Samantha, and Ze-Tian Lim at NTU CCA Singapore.

NTU CCA Ideas Fest is a platform to catalyze the critical exchange of ideas and encourage thinking outside the box. It is a bottom-up approach linking the artistic and the academic with community groups and grassroots initiatives. The pilot edition, Cities for People (2016–17), expanded on artistic interventions and engaged with contemporary issues such as air, water, food, environment, and social interaction in connection to artistic and cultural fields, academic research, and design applications. This second iteration in 2020 coincides with the exhibition The Posthuman City. Climates. Habitats. Environments (November 23, 2019–March 8, 2020) at NTU CCA Singapore. NTU CCA Ideas Fest 2020 is supported by the Goethe-Institut and the Embassy of France in Singapore.

About IdeasCity
About the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore
About the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
About New Museum