SEA AiR—Studio Residencies for Southeast Asian Artists in the EU

NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore (NTU CCA Singapore) is pleased to announce that the artists selected for the inaugural cycle of SEA AiR – Studio Residencies for Southeast Asian Artists in the EU are: Hoo Fan Chon (Malaysia), Citra Sasmita (Indonesia), and Vuth Lyno (Cambodia).

Developed by NTU CCA Singapore and funded by the European Union, SEA AiR pivots on emerging visual art practitioners who have not yet had a significant professional experience in Europe. Structured in a two-part engagement, the programme offers participating artists a three-month residency in a EU country and a group exhibition in Singapore at a later date. 

The three selected artists have been singled out from a pool of 24 candidates nominated by experts from across Southeast Asia. The selection was made by a committee comprising of: Ute Meta Bauer, Founding Director, NTU CCA Singapore and Professor, School of Art, Design and Media, NTU; Sylvie Christophe, Head of International Relations, Villa Arson; Juha Huuskonen, Director, Helsinki International Artist Programme; Siddharta Perez, Curator, NUS Museum, Singapore; Deepika Shetty, Press Officer, European Union Delegation to Singapore; and Dirk Snauwaert, Director, WIELS Centre d’Art Contemporain.

Impressed with the overall quality of the applicant pool, the committee also shortlisted Thuy Anh Dang (Vietnam), Priyageetha Dia (Singapore), Tada Hengsapkul (Thailand), Rita Khin (Myanmar), Kat Medina (Philippines), nor (Singapore) in recognition of the merit and remarkable promise of their artistic practices.

The residencies will be hosted by three contemporary art institutions in Europe. For this first cycle, the institutional partners are: WIELS (Belgium); HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme (Finland); and Villa Arson (France). With a strong commitment to working closely with artists and a long history of running residency programmes, these institutions provide a nurturing environment wherein artistic practices can grow through curatorial mentorship, peer-to peer dialogues, and public engagements. The three-month residencies will unfold simultaneously between March and June 2022: Hoo Fan Chon will be in residence at HIAP, Citra Sasmita at WIELS, and Vuth Lyno at Villa Arson.

As a collaborative platform forged around shared beliefs in the importance of art to create a more open and inclusive society, SEA AiR provides emerging Southeast Asian artists with a meaningful opportunity to develop their practice and broaden their perspective. In turn, the host institutions and their publics will gain a better understanding of the Southeast Asian cultural ecosystem, a region historically under-represented in most artistic residency programmes within Europe.

Hoo Fan Chon says: “Through this residency, I’d like to exercise my ideas and share my projects with audiences from different cultural backgrounds to germinate productive questions and trajectories. I plan to visit local cultural institutions and grassroots initiatives. I would also like to take the opportunity to consolidate my past projects into a larger cohesive practice and to find a balance between object-based artmaking and research-led projects.”

Citra Sasmita says: “I believe that the art world is not limited to the studio where the artist works, but it also includes the social realities that occur outside its walls. These aspects play a foundational role for the development of my creative process. Being selected for SEA AiR – Studio Residencies for Southeast Asian Artists in the European Union is a golden opportunity for me to deepen my knowledge, enrich my experience, and develop my artistic practice.”

Vuth Lyno says: “The holistic supporting structure of a residency and an exhibition is vital for artists like me to further my artistic practice and career. I am very grateful for this unique opportunity, which will allow me to develop a new research project, build a new network in Europe, and create a new body of work. At Villa Arson, I plan to research the colonial and recent histories of urban planning and architecture in France and Cambodia to understand how they shape political topography, urban physiology, and social structure.”

For more information, please contact ntuccacomms@ntu.edu.sg.