Collecting Entanglements and Embodied Histories is an ongoing collaboration between the collections of Singapore Art Museum (Singapore), Galeri Nasional Indonesia (Jakarta, Indonesia), MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum (Chiang Mai, Thailand) and Nationalgalerie Berlin (Germany), initiated by the Goethe-Institut in Southeast Asia. Relating to each other, four different collection-based exhibitions are curated by Anna-Catharina Gebbers, Grace Samboh, Gridthiya Gaweewong, June Yap and will be presented in 2021 and 2022. A series of online public programmes is conducted in conjunction with each of the site-specific exhibitions. Titled The Gift, the exhibition in Singapore explores the nature of relations, affinities and influences, through this gesture of giving and return, as it is performed, remembered, and as that which remains and entangles; encapsulating simultaneously an expansiveness of sprit and an obligation to another.

In a first round, the conversation between the curators and three regional directors of the Goethe-Institut attempts to explore conditions, pre-requisites and challenges of cooperative endeavours like this one and will look at the genesis of the collaboration, which started more than 10 years ago. The discussion will touch critically upon the notion of regionalism and examine challenges and opportunities of institutional cooperation across borders. How can we develop a meaningful cultural exchange that is aware of its limitations, taking into account institutional roles and modes of interaction as well as the value of trust and personal commitments?

Speakers: Franz Xaver Augustin, Heinrich Blömeke, Stefan Dreyer
Moderators: Anna-Catharina Gebbers, Grace Samboh, Gridthiya Gaweewong, June Yap

For more information on Collecting Entanglements and Embodied Histories, please visit https://www.goethe.de/prj/ceh/en/index.html.