Art Worlds

Episode 38 features Raquel Schwartz, an artist and director of Kiosko Galería, an independent art space in Bolivia’s largest city, Santa Cruz de la Sierra. On its site you’ll find exhibition galleries, a library, a communal studio area, shop and residency spaces. With thoughtful programming, including practical workshops, performances and history of art talks, Kiosko is a place where Bolivia’s arts community gravitate.  Raquel has a clear focus on using art to contribute to society. She founded her eponymous foundation with the intention of supporting projects that raise awareness of Bolivia’s social and environmental challenges. Raquel spoke to me just after concluding an ambitious 12 day micro-residency in the foothills of the Bolivian Andes.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kenia Almaraz Murillo is an artist who seamlessly blends and balances references to her diasporic experiences. Born in Bolivia and now living in Paris, she creates wall-mounted sculptures that are hand woven from Bolivian yarns and antique French thread which often incorporate found urban objects and luminous LED lights. The effect is majestic and not only draws on but also honours the spirituality associated with her Andean ancestors.Rituals are strongly evoked by Kenia’s works. At times she has integrated protective amulets and offerings, like corn blessed by shamans, into her weaving. She has also produced a temple-like room of sculptures that reference the animals significant in Andean cosmology. Kenia spoke to me from her Parisian studio about her evolving exploration of Bolivian culture.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 36 features Tsiriniaina Hajatiana Irimboangy, an artist-designer and researcher based between Madagascar and France. From their background in graphic design, their practice uses digital creation technologies, including AI and 3D digitisation, to highlight, preserve and give a voice to Malagasy heritage and culture. Within this framework, Tsiriniaina often seeks out stories that have been overlooked and marginalised and uses their transmedia approach to refocus attention. Tsiriniaina was the winner of Fondation H’s Prix Pari-tana in 2024 and used the awarded residency, at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, to develop their project 'Ridô - Revealing memories'. Tsiriniaina joined me from Antananarivo in Madagascar where they were working on a new exhibition.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 35 features Joël Andrianomearisoa, an artist who straddles worlds working and living between Paris and Magnat-l’Étrange in France as well as Antananarivo in Madagascar. His work, which encompasses sculpture, installation, performance, craft and textiles, is influenced by the cultural diversity that characterises Madagascar yet it speaks beyond here. A piece like ‘The Five Continents Of All Our Desires’, made from suspended sheets of black silk paper, considers the architecture of feelings and the way emotional experiences, like desire, can be considered universal. Joël has exhibited across the globe and was the artist chosen to represent Madagascar when the country first participated in the Venice Biennale in 2019. Since then he has created exhibition opportunities for Malagasy artists through the platform Hakanto Contemporary. Set in a sprawling warehouse in Antananarivo, the initiative celebrates and supports Malagasy creativity. Joël joined me from his studio in Paris and explained the ways he likes to provoke and bring people together.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 34 speaks to Margaux Huille, director of Fondation H, a Malagasy organisation dedicated to contemporary art. Margaux has spent her career championing artists from Africa and its diaspora. Having helped launch the endowment fund African Artists for Development and worked with 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, she has been deeply embedded in the continent’s various art worlds. Fondation H, launched by patron Hassanein Hiridjee in 2017, operates in Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo and France’s capital, Paris. From permanent spaces in both locations, the programming foregrounds the development and structuring of the Indian Ocean art scene. This is realised through supporting artists with exhibition opportunities, workshops and prizes as well as focusing on increasing public access to art. Margaux spoke to me from Antananarivo about the scope and value of these activities. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 33 meets Xiaoyu Weng, a prolific and pioneering curator. From her early career working with Kadist to build their contemporary Asian art collection, to her time as an associate curator at the Guggenheim and then onto to leading the modern and contemporary art department at the Art Gallery of Ontario, she has developed interdisciplinary programming centred on new ways to conceive a globalised world and to consider its attendant challenges. Last year, Xiaoyu became the inaugural artistic director of the Tanoto Art Foundation. Based in Singapore and founded by Belinda Tanoto, the not for profit sees itself as a connector that will bring together Southeast Asia’s arts communities and nurture dialogues beyond. The Foundation has plans for a range of activities including exhibitions, international collaborations, research and publications. I spoke to Xiaoyu just after she had launched their first public symposium in a theatre at Singapore’s School of the Arts.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 32 features Dawn Ng, an artist preoccupied with time, memory, nostalgia and the ephemeral. This has led her to develop a unique sculpting technique that deploys ice and pigment to create beguiling images across a breadth of mediums, including photography, film and painting. When translated into moving image, like in ‘The Earth is an Hourglass’ currently showing at 11th Asia Pacific Triennial, Dawn’s icy sculptural form gradually collapses into a river of colour. The process is captivating. Dawn’s works are focused on encouraging this type of slow looking. From large-scale installations at the National Gallery Singapore to a commission for the Fondation d'entreprise Hermès, her work is characteristically poetic and elegant in its execution. Dawn joined me from her studio in Singapore and told me more about her industrial size walk-in freezers and her scientific spreadsheets.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Art Worlds returns for series 4! Joining me for episode 31 is Magnus Renfrew, the Co-Chairman and Global Director of The Art Assembly, an affiliation of three major international art fairs founded in the Asia Pacific region. This includes Singapore’s leading art fair, ART SG. Magnus launched the inaugural edition of ART SG in January 2023. He has deep expertise, he was founding director of Art Basel Hong Kong (2012-2014) - serving as one of three members of Art Basel’s global Executive Committee, and before that was founding director of the fair’s predecessor ART HK: Hong Kong International Art Fair (2007-2012). He is currently Chair of the Advisory Council for Para Site Art Space.In the run up to the fair opening its doors, Magnus spoke to me from his office in Taipei about the ins and outs of spearheading such an enterprise.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Natsagsuren Mangalam is the founder of Lkham, one of Mongolia’s leading contemporary art galleries. Opened in 2022, after she left her career in finance, the gallery supports a range of artists, both established and emerging from across Central Asia. Lkham has quickly built a reputation for its strong exhibitions and original education and events programme. Natsagsuren’s motivation is for the region’s artists to be recognised both at home and on a global stage. As such, she has brought in curators like Dr Christiana Bonin, invited guest lecturers and staged a major exhibition in Paris. Natsagsuren spoke to me from Athens in between planning her next international show.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 29 meets Baatarzorig Batjargal, an artist based in Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar, who is revered for his fastidious paintings that capture the country’s shifting character and values. Drawing on the zurag style, associated with Mongolia’s independence movement in the early 20th century, his works evoke the contradictions of a nomadic society exposed to socialism now contending with rapid urbanisation and global capitalism. In scenes somewhat reminiscent of Tibetan Buddhist painting, a spectrum of figures including deities, intellectuals, warriors and cartoon characters jostle together.Baatarzorig has exhibited widely and was included in the Bangkok Art Biennale 2020 and the Asia Pacific Triennale 2018 at the Queensland Art Gallery. He joined me from his studio to discuss how and why he converges spiritualism and consumption. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 28, Art Worlds visits Mongolia. Gantuya Badamgarav, a curator based in the country's capital Ulaanbaatar, has been integral to the development of the country’s contemporary art. With a macroeconomic policy background, Gantuya established 976 Art Gallery and the Mongolian Contemporary Art Support Association in 2012. She has organized over 100 exhibitions and was the first-ever Commissioner of the Mongolia Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2015. Since she has been the project director and the curator in 2022 and 2019 when she brought together traditional throat singers with the German artist Carsten Nicolai in an installation by Jantsankhorol Erdenebayar. Gantuya currently runs the Nomadic Red Corner International Artist Residency. She spoke to me from her home in Ulaanbaatar about her pioneering work.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 27 meets Raphael Chikukwa, a curator based in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, who is the Executive Director of the country’s National Gallery. He first joined the institution in 2010 as chief curator, following ten years of working independently and instigating a range of exhibitions including at the Imperial War Museum North and Manchester Art Gallery. Raphael’s commitment to enhancing the visibility of Zimbabwe’s artists saw him become the founding Curator of the Zimbabwe Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011. He curated subsequent editions, up until 2019, when he became commissioner. During his time he focused on group shows that included Portia Zvavahera and Kudzanai-Violet Hwami. Raphael has advised organisations internationally, among them, Future Generation Art Prize and High Line Plinth in New York and written extensively about Zimbabwe’s contemporary art. He joined me from his office at the gallery to discuss his curatorial work and the grand plans he has for 2024.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 26 features Richard Mudariki, an artist based between Harare and Cape Town. Known for his satirical figurative paintings, Richard addresses political reform in Zimbabwe, state corruption and social conditions in South Africa. In 2020 he founded artHARARE as an online platform to experience contemporary art by established, mid-career and emerging visual artists from Zimbabwe and its diaspora. The initiative has since developed with artHARARE participating in international art fairs like 1-54, building institutional partnerships as well as hosting talks and starting an art prize. Richard spoke to me from Cape Town about his ongoing efforts to support Zimbabwe’s artists.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 25 meets artist Misheck Masamvu who considers Zimbabwe’s post-independence character through painting, drawing and sculpture. Sensitive to the country’s economic and political turmoil, he uses frenetic mark making with elements of figuration lurking beneath to go some way to capturing and articulating the experiences of Zimbabweans. Misheck’s civic spiritedness is similarly felt at Village Unhu, an art space he co-founded in the capital Harare to nurture young artistic talent.Misheck’s work has been exhibited internationally at the 54th Venice Biennale, 22nd Sydney Biennale, Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, among others. In January 2024, he will be included in curator Zoe Whitley’s exhibition at The Institutum, Singapore. Misheck took a break from his painting and joined me from his studio in Harare.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 24, Hana El-Beblawy, an artist and curator, discusses the organisation Ard Art she founded in 2022. Situated in central Cairo, in one of the city’s oldest neighbourhoods, the space provides opportunities for artists to experiment through a varied programme of residencies, workshops, exhibitions and more. With an open and inclusive ethos, Ard Art develops according to artists’ needs and places value on being away from the pressures of the commercial gallery system. Hana’s own artistic practice and experience organising exhibitions in her previous role as artistic and executive director of Art D’Égypte, inform her empathetic, ground-up approach. She joined me from her home in Cairo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 23, Art Worlds meets artist and academic Huda Lutfi who integrates her specialism in Islamic culture and history with her multimedia practice. Having taught at the American University of Cairo, her work is suffused with historical references, including symbols from Pharaonic and Coptic cultures, that are recontextualised to highlight Egypt’s contemporary social and political issues. Female archetypes, like the image of the iconic singer Umm Kulthum along with found mannequin parts, often overlaid with Sufi calligraphic text, question gender roles in a patriarchal society. Lutfi’s work is internationally renowned and can be found in the collections of the Barjeel Art Foundation, British Museum, Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, among others. Huda joined me from her studio in Cairo to discuss her work and Egypt’s art history.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Art Worlds Series 3 starts in Egypt with Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, a French Egyptian curator who founded Art D’Égypte in 2016. What started as an exhibition platform to support Egyptian arts and cultural initiatives has since grown into a cultural consultancy called Culturvator.  The organisation offers a range of services, including collection management and art advisory, with the ultimate goal of promoting creative collaborations in Egypt. Nadine is perhaps best known for activating Egypt’s astounding heritage sites through contemporary exhibitions. This includes her annual show Forever is Now that takes place among the Pyramids of Giza. In the run up to the third edition, Nadine spoke to me from her office in Cairo and explained just how one manages to work across one the seven wonders of the world.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 21 meets Daisuke Miyatsu, a collector based in Japan, who has amassed an enviable art collection famously on his modest salary. Working in advertising by day and as a hotel receptionist at night, he has made art his life, collecting widely and inventively since the early 1990s. His collection is founded on the close relationships he’s built with artists and has been shared with public exhibitions at institutions including the Kasama Nichido Museum of Art and Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery in Japan and Daelim Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul. Now teaching and writing on contemporary art and its economics, Daisuke joined me from his extraordinary art home in Tokyo to discuss his idiosyncratic approach to collecting.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

teamLab, an international art collective, are world renowned for creating immersive environments through digital technology. Exploring the intersection of art, technology, science and natural worlds, in Hiroshima they’ve created an interactive ‘Future Park’ where audiences are encouraged to co-create and make drawings that are transformed into installations.  In Sao Paulo, they’ve filled rooms with eternal cycles of budding and blossoming flowers. Last year teamLab made their scenographic debut, confounding the boundaries between the stage and audience with a sculptural space of light in a Puccini opera at the Grand Théatre de Genève in Switzerland. Ahead of this opera opening in Japan, Takashi Kudo, teamLab’s Communications Director, joined me from their Tokyo studio to shed light on their process and ambitions.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 19 visits Japan and speaks with Mami Kataoka, director of Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum, a space dedicated to contemporary art and architecture. Part of the founding team, Mami has earned international renown for her curatorial approach, teaching and writing. She’s been consistently listed in ArtReview’s Power 100 and was the first Asian curator to direct Sydney’s Biennale in 2018. Last year saw her open the Aichi Triennale, one of Japan’s largest international art events. Mami joined me from her office in Tokyo to discuss her impressive work and the concept of ‘Asian’ art.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.