Housed within the National Gallery of Singapore, “Tropical: Stories from Southeast Asia and Latin America” is the world’s first tremendous exhibition, comprising over two hundred artistic endeavors, that compares Southeast Asia and Latin America. The exhibition’s central theme exemplifies the struggles faced against colonialism, discovering how art may serve as a tool for resistance and transformation.
As the theme of this exhibition proposes the audience to form parallels between the complex art histories across the two regions- Southeast Asia and Latin America, the body of works portrays how both the districts established connections and nurtured solidarity to reclaim their put inside the story of art, within the 20th century.
The National Gallery of Singapore offered three galleries and one chamber to accommodate the massive Tropical Exhibition, spanning a vast range of paintings, prints, books, photographs, sensorial installations, and textiles that spotlight distinctive art by 5 expressive artists- Cheong Soo Pieng, Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Latiff Mohidin.
The three sectional titles of this exhibition are derived from three mythical Southeast Asian texts- The Myth of the Lazy Native by Syed Hussein Alatas, This Earth of Mankind by Pramoedya Ananta Toer, and The Subversive by José Rizal. The curatorial's research on drawing intricate connections between writers, poets, architects, and artists took place during the elevation of decolonization, which resulted in the use of these Southeast Asian texts as titles of the galleries.
The Tropical offers unique and modern viewpoints on the evolution of modern art. As a way to highlight a sense of empowerment and alteration, the exhibition departs from the traditional methods of exhibiting paintings on walls. A renowned architect, Lina Bo Bardi, developed revolutionary concepts for displaying artworks, allowing the audience to reveal modern possibilities in their encounter with the artworks. The exhibition commences with The Myth of the Lazy Native in Gallery 1, consisting of radical crystal easels, hanging banners, screens, and headphones, to share an insight into the origination of colonial rule. In comparison, the radical crystal easels developed by Lina Bo Bardi complemented innovative methods of showcasing works in a conventional art zone, the digital amenities provided an increasingly immersive experience to the audience and allowed them to experience the audio and videos together. This Earth of Mankind, the second gallery, comprised of textile hangings, followed a grid-structure layout with wood-paneled display devices. This gallery included some digital media like screens and iPads, along with artworks well spread out throughout the space in an open-ended layout. In the third gallery, The Subversive, a free-standing design is constructed using wooden lattice-like structures. Paintings are mounted on stilts to categorize the traditional gallery area and create a more permeable setting. The gallery was outfitted with both working and non-working lights, as well as screens, to create the desired mood. This gallery concludes with works of modern paintings and sculptures representing powerful tools for instigating fresh perspectives.
Venturing into the immersive realm of “tropical”, the exhibition expands to the City Hall Chamber, where Hélio Oiticica's most persuasive installation, Tropicália, is established in Southeast Asia for the first time. What seems to visualize Brazil as a tropical paradise embodied two live blue and gold macaws, numerous plant pots surrounding the birdcages as well as sand surrounding the entire area. The juxtaposition of having the macaws trapped in a birdcage, fixated in the middle of a tropical-looking installation, raised questions for me as a viewer about the artists’ intentions.
In highlighting the interweaved pursuits of postcolonial resistance and recovery, the use of multi-media technology and traditionally painted artworks, textiles, and sculptures along with the use of primary documents like books and prints, the Tropical Exhibition was successful in examining diverse artistic perspectives while taking into account the social, political, aspirational, and technological narratives of the 20th century.
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