28 - 30 july 2021

Nanyang academy of fine arts

Presentation (Live)

Day 1Wednesday 28 July 2021, 15:35

Connecting Cultures - Local / Regional / International

Preeti Gaonkar, Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF)

 

At the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), we promote cultural relations by connecting artists, cultural professionals, arts organisations, public institutions, networks and museums in Asia and Europe. We respond to current gaps in cultural cooperation between Asia and Europe by providing access to information, facilitating cultural mobility and promoting artistic diversity. To facilitate the sharing of knowledge and creating opportunities for cultural exchange, culture360.ASEF.org, an arts and culture website presents latest news, events and funding opportunities aggregated from across the world & features thought-provoking articles and publications for the arts community in Asia and Europe. Through this project, research studies have been commissioned to map creative responses to sustainability, innovation, heritage preservation and community empowerment in various parts of Asia and Europe, which brings forth not-so-visible ideas & voices of artists and communities and transmits it to wider arts communities. With the physical distancing and restricted mobility in the pandemic-afflicted world, the arts and culture sector has been dealt with numerous challenges to stay connected. Many actors in the arts have risen to this occasion by devising new and innovative ways to adapt projects to meet the requirements of the online world (e.g. physical events going virtual) and rallying their communities to co-create new digital art projects or programmes. Being a highly agile online portal, ASEF culture360 took on the challenge to sustain old and create new connections through the e-residency programmes. Partnering with like-minded institutions, 3 residencies have been held for artists, curators and arts journalists since 2020. The emphasis of these residencies has been on supporting emerging artists and arts practitioners to build capacity while focussing on process and development. These digital programmes have allowed to bring communities together from unlikely backgrounds and locations.

Global challenges have affected our ways of living and working. Creative collaborative responses have designed innovative solutions to overcome these challenges, despite limited resources. Connecting cultures - local, regional and international - remains at the heart of such creative collaborations.

Presentation (Video on Demand)

Day 1Wednesday 28 July 2021, 16:00

Being Responsive, Staying Connected

Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF)

 

The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) is an intergovernmental, not-for-profit organisation which brings together the people of Asia and Europe to address common global challenges. Culture is one of ASEF's seven key thematic areas. In this field, we promote cultural relations between the arts and culture sectors in Asia and Europe.

ASEF culture360 is a project through which we aim to respond to current gaps in cultural cooperation by providing access to information on arts, culture, and heritage from the two regions. We also support the mapping of industry trends and developments, creating new knowledge products, and increasing visibility of arts events. And one of rapidly developing areas of work has been the creation of capacity building, collaboration, and peer learning opportunities.

With stay-at-home becoming the norm during the pandemic, ASEF culture360 responded to the gap for artists and cultural professionals in capacity development and collaboration with the pilot project of virtual residencies. Our e-residencies focus on the development process of the participants, encouraging them to share knowledge, facilitating peer learning and networking, and being able to collaborate despite restricted physical interactions - thereby empowering them to stay connected via the digital medium.

To date, ASEF culture360 has partnered with like-minded institutions to organise three e-residency programmes in the past year: Virtual Konnect360, Virtual Workings, and Virtual Crossovers. Our upcoming e-residency programme, 'At Home, Being Home', is organised for young emerging artists from the performing arts, music, film, and new media sectors.

Hear more about the e-residency experience from our participants in this video!

The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) promotes understanding, strengthens relationships and facilitates cooperation among the people, institutions and organisations of Asia and Europe. ASEF enhances dialogue, enables exchanges and encourages collaboration across the thematic areas of culture, education, governance, sustainable development, public health and economy.
ASEF is an intergovernmental not-for-profit organisation located in Singapore. Founded in 1997, it is the only institution of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).

Preeti Gaonkar
Preeti GAONKAR, an arts administrator and cultural entrepreneur, works with the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) in Singapore. She is in charge of the ASEM Cultural Festival, a public arts festival showcasing the best of traditional & contemporary arts alongside ASEM Leaders' Meetings. Previously, she worked in India where she founded The Mumbai Assembly, an independent cultural agency focused on creating new platforms for collaboration and showcasing in the arts and culture sector. Over the years, she has cultivated a strong knowledge base on international cultural cooperation, multi-stakeholder project development and fundraising for independent culture projects.