Check in with our socials to see what's new: #SeaArtForum2023
The inaugural edition of the Forum was held in July 2019, with the theme 'The School of Arts'. Co-hosted by the Institute of Southeast Asian Arts and School of Art & Design at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), the 4-day event took the shape of presentation, practice, and performance, with lively discussion and exchange to promote awareness in the spirit of collaboration and discovery. A total of 18 presenters from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Thailand showcased their research and started important interdisciplinary dialogues among students, academics, and fellow creative practitioners.
In 2021 and 2022,the Forum took on hybrid formats and saw the coming together of over 20 speakers, across multiple artistic disciplines, streaming from over 8 different cities. The hybrid Forum includes livestreamed presentations, performances, and dialogue to inspire a practice-led teaching and learning of Southeast Asian arts; facilitating an exchange of knowledge from the community to the classroom and vice versa.
Established in April 2010, the Institute of Southeast Asian Arts (ISEAA) aims to develop the capabilities of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) in a niche area of global art being practiced in the region. This endeavour is of benefit to the multidisciplinary nature of NAFA's contemporary arts training, which includes 3D Design, Design & Media, Fine Art, Arts Management, Fashion, Theatre, Dance, and Music.
As a research and resource development agency within NAFA, ISEAA leverages the inventory holdings of the Academy and develops Southeast Asian study resources to contextualise practice-based and practice-led learning for NAFA's students and faculty. The manifestations of the programming are critically integrated into the curriculum and course modules to expand the academic investigations of conventional disciplines into the realm of Southeast Asian art.
ISEAA also builds a network of external partners to represent the spectrum of visual and performing arts in Singapore and the region. Activities include artist talks, masterclasses, workshops, artist-in-residence and interdisciplinary projects of participatory nature, which harness heritage and contemporary arts, leading to collaborative outcomes such as exhibitions, performances and publications.