Brian Curtin Appointed Curator And Director Of Sàn Art
By Sophie von Wunster
Brian Curtin has been appointed curator and director of Vietnamese, artist-initiated non-profit organization Sàn Art. The Ho Chi Minh City-based institution is dedicated to promoting contemporary art through providing resources and alternative exhibiting spaces for local emerging artists, as well as running lectures and workshops that foster the exchange of cultural knowledge across disciplines.
Born in Ireland and based in Bangkok since 2000, Curtin will be responsible for overseeing a curatorial training program for young Vietnamese and Southeast Asian artists, and relaunching the Sàn Art Laboratory, a collaborative artist residency program that was dropped in 2016 due to pressure from the Vietnam government.
“Reinvigorating our experimental spirit as a grassroots, community-based art space, Sàn Art looks forward to welcoming Brian and shaping new pathways with him from April 2018 onwards,” the organization stated.
The newly appointed curator and director founded H Project Space, an experimental venue on the second floor of H Gallery, Bangkok, in 2011. He holds a PhD in studio art from the University of Bristol and currently lectures in the Department of Industrial Design at the Faculty of Architecture in Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. His profiles of prominent artists—including Cambodian sculptor and installation artist Sopheap Pich, Bangkok-based textile artist Jakkai Siributr and American multimedia artist Paul Pfeiffer—have been published in Frieze, Artforum, ArtAsiaPacific and ArtReview Asia, among others.
Sophie von Wunster is an editorial intern at ArtAsiaPacific.
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