Weekly News Roundup: November 29, 2024

New Center Brings Contemporary Art to Heritage City

The new Jaipur Centre for Art (JCA) opened at the Friends of the Museum building in the historic City Palace in the northwestern Indian city on November 23. A collaboration between HH Maharaja Sawai Padmanabh Singh and contemporary art specialist Noelle Kadar, the 2,600-square-foot art hub aims to foster cross-cultural exchange while highlighting Jaipur’s lesser-known contemporary art production, beyond its identity as a time-honored center for craftsmanship. It will achieve this through a range of exhibitions, public art projects, and a core residency program. The inaugural exhibition, “A New Way of Seeing,” is curated by Peter Nagy, founder of Nature Morte gallery in New Delhi. It will feature interdisciplinary works by established artists from India and around the globe, including renowned Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto and British Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor. Kadar hopes the JCA will support “a rich dialogue between the new and the old,” while HH Maharaja anticipates its key role in ensuring heritage spaces continue to evolve as “living monuments of creativity and inspiration.”

Sharjah Film Platform 7 Reveals 2024 Winners 

On November 26, the Sharjah Art Foundation, based in the United Arab Emirates, announced the six winners of its seventh Sharjah Film Platform Awards, which this year centered on notions of modernity in African and Asian film, cinema as a tool of resistance from Palestine and beyond, as well as innovations in documentary filmmaking. The awardees were selected by an international jury across four categories: Congolese French filmmaker Alain Kassanda won Best Documentary Feature Film for Coconut Head Generation (2023); Vietnamese self-taught filmmaker Phạm Ngọc Lân won Best Fiction Feature Film for Cu Li Never Cries (2024); Australian artist and writer Alana Hunt won Best Documentary Short Film for Surveilling A Crime Scene (2024); and Palestinian film director and screenwriter Maha Haj won Best Fiction Short Film for Upshot (2024). Additionally, there were two honorable mentions: Palestinian film director Rashid Masharawi, for his documentary feature film From Ground Zero (2024); and Malaysian filmmaker Chia Chee Sum for his fiction feature film Oasis of Now (2023). The winning works were screened at various cinemas in Sharjah from November 15–24, alongside a series of public educational programs.

Singapore Art Week Returns in January with New Collaborations and Programs 

The 13th edition of Singapore Art Week (SAW), “Art Takes Over,” is slated to return January 17–26, 2025. Organized by the National Arts Council (NAC) and supported by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), SAW will feature a dynamic ten-day line-up of more than 100 events across various spaces around the city state. From familiar favorites such as the international art fair Art SG at Marina Bay Sands, to the late-night programs Sonic Sessions at Tanjong Pagar Distripark and Light to Night at the Civic District, SAW reinforces Singapore’s position as an important art and cultural destination in Southeast Asia. Tay Tong, director of the Arts Ecosystem Group (Visual Arts), NAC, remarked that “SAW’s ability to attract local and international artists, galleries, and art enthusiasts underscores Singapore’s position as a nexus for creative expression in the region.” 

Ayala Foundation Plans New Art Center in Manila

On November 26, the Philippine nonprofit Ayala Foundation revealed plans to open a new art establishment, the Contemporary Art Center, in Metro Manila’s Circuit Makati district, marking its third cultural space in the city. To be situated by the Pasig River, the Center will serve as a platform for innovative art, ranging from installations to performances, films, digital art, and other interactive experiences to “celebrate the full spectrum of contemporary creativity,” according to a press release. The two-story building, designed by Filipino architect Ed Calma and Thai architect Kulapat Yantrasat, will span 2,200 square meters and include three galleries as well as a 400-square-meter outdoor area for public art installations and events. In a statement, Ayala Foundation president Tony Lambino emphasized the organization’s “enduring commitment” to the Philippines’s cultural sector, adding that “an appreciation of Filipino culture and heritage is an integral part of national development.” Construction for the Center is set to be completed by 2027.

Melbourne Artist Receives Unanticipated Prize 

Artist Mira Gojak received the 2024 Don Macfarlane Prize via an unexpected phone call, a usual practice of the Macfarlane Fund, which was established to draw public attention to lesser-known senior artists and honour their persistent efforts in artmaking, contrary to most support given to emerging artists. The condition-free AUD 50,000 (USD 32,600) cash prize serves as a financial resource for encouraging these awardees to continue their commitment to and passion for the arts. Based in Melbourne and with a background in zoology and psychology, Gojak experiments with sculpture, drawing, and photography, upholding a feminist, ecological sensibility. Her works trace the dynamic energy forms in the cosmos, as they embrace the entanglement between human and nonhuman through surreal, uncanny poetics. Gojak presented her works in a two-person survey exhibition, “The Garden of Forking Paths,” with Takehito Koganezawa at the Melbourne public art museum Buxton Contemporary in 2018, and was included in “Making Worlds,” the inaugural exhibition at the Sydney Modern extension of the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2022. She has exhibited widely in Australia, as well as in Hong Kong, Prague, and Milan, with her works held in the collections of many local galleries.

Subscribe to ArtAsiaPacific’s free weekly newsletter with all the latest news, reviews, and perspectives, directly to your inbox each Monday.