Asia Contemporary Art Week
New York galleries have teamed up together to bring you the very best contemporary artists from Asia that they can muster. This year marks the tenth anniversary of Asia Contemporary Art Week (ACAW) and this year the city has brought together with an array of happenings, lectures, performances and of course some fantastic art from 28th October – 8th November.
In amongst the weeks festivities are two high profile acts:
Lee Mingwei’s ‘Sonic Blossom’ and FIELD MEETING’s ‘Take 3:Thinking Performance’.
Both events explore the boundaries between participation and artistry. In Lee Mingwei’s work, Operatic singers dressed in traditional Asian attire, wander the galleries in search of a suitable visitor and approach with,
“May I offer you the gift of song?”
At agreement the participant is then led into a private gallery beckoned to sit down and the singer sings one of five chosen ‘Lieders’ by Francis Schubert. This concept has toured a number of galleries throughout America and Asia, each time with astounding success.
Questioning privacy particularly within public space is a hugely influential theme for artists of today. Mingwei uses it as a recurring field for research amongst other cutting edge artists. Never in history has the topic of privacy been so prevalent in culture. Truly creating a space where relationships, interaction and participation are questioned is one to think about. ACAW’s other headline act Field Meeting is a two-day event focusing on contemporary performance art. Performers have been asked to present work for discussion and reflection, with the intention for future works and relationships to be built. Field meeting is a collaborative of several museums and galleries from Asia and New York who bring these events into realization. This ‘Take Three’, is the latest rendition.
So if you do find yourself in the big apple during Halloween be sure to soak up some Schubert, performance art and shake hands with a few strangers. If you can’t afford a trip to NYC but are still keen on learning about Asian digital art, there is always NEoN’s Asian Digital arts festival from 8th – 14th November!
