Dear friends and colleagues
We live in a global world. One effect of this is that we may see something we think peculiar to an area only to see the same thing somewhere else and realise that it is in fact a recent phenomenon that exists worldwide. The world changes so quickly
For example, Union Jacks. About three years ago I became fascinated at how often in South-East Asia you saw Union Jacks on t-shirts and shoulder bags. So, I started to photograph them whenever I saw one. You never saw any other national flag used like this, except, just occasionally, a Stars and Stripes. You saw it a lot of Union Jacks in Singapore, maybe less in The Philippines or Indonesia and not at all in Thailand. I had it in mind to make a visual essay or art work and call it “I come from a cool country”. Maybe I still will, but I was stopped in my tracks after a year when I came back to the UK and saw Union Jacks also being used there as a hip decoration for t-shirts, bags and cushions.
It’s a little bit the same with tattoos. There is a very big tattoo culture in Jogjakarta: some artists are entirely covered with tattoos, one, Bob Sick Yudhita, even has his face covered with tattoos. But I realised it was less extraordinary than I thought when I was in England last year and noticed the growing prevalence of tattoos on artists there. I doubt there is the same respect for tattoo as an art form in itself though. Something to talk about another time!
So, private views. How different are they here from those in Europe?
It varies from country to country but generally the emphasis is on food not alcohol.
A private view I attended in South Korea was in a way the most unusual because it truly was a private view. Maybe twenty or so people had been invited and after an hour we went for a meal.
At the Singapore Art Museum private views are odd in a different way: a lot of food is served outside the museum – noodles, rice, meat, fish, etc, – enough for a full scale supper – but you are not allowed in to see the exhibition until there have been speeches and (even more irritatingly) only after the guest of honour has been given a private tour. The guest of honour is invariably someone from the government – the assistant director of telecommunications, or something like that. Eventually people are let in and they surge round in a solid human wave. Some just stay outside eating and chatting with the intention (hopefully) of seeing the exhibition in peace another day.
How about the Philippines? I was there for the installation and private view of Geraldine Javier’s new exhibition at Finale, the private gallery with the largest exhibition space in Manila.
A small thing, people are more easy about children here, no-one was phased by one of the gallery staff having her daughter with her.
Child; Geraldine (recto)
Apart from paintings and two installations in smaller rooms, the exhibition featured a set of ten vitrines, seven of which contained figures from her community, including herself, made with paint, embroidery and hammered leaves on canvas.
Collectors floated in throughout the installation to choose a work and chat: everyone was very relaxed and comfortable about such interruptions. At the end there was the normal fiddling around with lighting. Just like everywhere else installation is a long, tiring but exciting process.
Adjusting lights in main gallery; Geraldine (verso) at front
Adjusting lights in upstairs installation
End of a long day for all the team
The next day and journalists turn up for an interview and a photo session, a few more collectors float in.
And the day after that everything stops: everyone in The Philippines watches the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight. Someone joked that the rich of the Filipino art world have all gone to Las Vegas instead of Venice.
There was wine and beer at the opening, and good food too: noodles, pork, chicken, ox tongue all cooked in the style of Quezon province where she comes from.
People sit at tables outside the gallery. Everyone is very polite and courteous. Artists sit around and gossip. It’s much like everywhere else.
But maybe one difference is that collectors here almost always want to be photographed in front of their art work with the artist. It’s a sort of certificate.
But maybe collectors are doing that in Europe too now? Half an hour before midnight the food is cleared away and the last people go home.
It was a very good show and a very pleasant private view.
Have a good Tuesday and don’t forget to vote on Thursday! I will sit under the mango tree and catch up on the results on Friday by BBC News.
Best wishes
Tony