2023 ART SG: Chiu Chen Hung, Mit Jai Inn, Sawangwongse Yawnghwe

TKG+ is pleased to announce its participation in the inaugural edition of Art SG. Emerging from the aftershocks of the pandemic, Art SG welcomes its global audience from January 11 to January 15. As an essential financial hub in Asia, Singapore serves as an ideal platform to spotlight and present Southeast Asian art.

 

With its innate cultural heritage — colonial and decolonial history, vigorous trade growth, and ethnic diversity — Southeast Asia has established an artistic vision that rivals that of its European counterparts. Its profound history can be traced back to the Age of Discovery when Southeast Asian countries became colonized by European powers largely by the 19th century for their strategic geographical locations and abundant resources. Centuries of colonialism did not end until after World War II, which saw European powers falter, the Cold War begin, and a wave of decolonization and independence movements surge across Southeast Asia. This political paradigm shift manifests itself in the diverse cultures in this region, allowing a glimpse into the changing political landscape portrayed in Southeast Asian art.

 

For the 2023 edition of Art SG, TKG+ is pleased to present three artists from Southeast Asia: Mit Jai Inn (b. 1960), Sawangwongse Yawnghwe (b. 1971), and Chiu Chen-Hung (b. 1983). Respectively from Thailand, Burma, and Taiwan, each of these artists imbues their work with a fraught sense of personal history, familial bond, and state identity, translating regional narratives into singular aesthetics perceived through a lens of critique and investigation.