The Padang Sessions

Padang Spotlights #3: Lai Foong Moi

Welcome to Padang Spotlights, a series of special episodes uncovering the rich histories of Southeast Asian artists and art spaces through archives and exclusive interviews. In this spotlight, a quiet encounter with "Crossing" (1964) at the National Gallery Singapore leads curator Teo Hui Min into a years-long search into the life of Lai Foong Moi (b. 1931, d. 1994) — the first Malayan-born woman to hold solo exhibitions in Singapore and the Federation of Malaya. Celebrated in her time yet little remembered today, Lai’s story reveals the delicate interplay of forces that shape an artist’s journey. Accompanied by conversations with her former student, artist Salleh bin Japar [https://www.lasalle.edu.sg/academics/salleh-japar/], and her contemporary, artist Yeo Hoe Koon, we trace Lai’s path from her promising return from art training in France to her later years on the margins of public memory. We invite you to consider her story not just in terms of artistic innovation or acclaim but as a reflection on the ambition, negotiation, and uncertainties that define an artist’s life and legacy. Researcher, Host & Co-editor: Teo Hui Min Co-editors & Producers: Adele Tan, Kelysha Cheah Kassim Audio production, Music & Sound design: Chong Li-Chuan [https://www.behance.net/lichuanchong] - If you’ve enjoyed Padang Spotlights, please take a moment to leave us a review. Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/nationalgallerysingapore/?hl=en] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/nationalgallerysingapore/]. Go to www.nationalgallery.sg [http://www.nationalgallery.sg] for more podcasts and Southeast Asian art!

The Calligraphic and the Modern in Haryadi Suadi’s Printmaking and Glass Painting | Anissa Rahadiningtyas, Jérôme Samuel & Radi Arwinda

Artist Haryadi Suadi grew up in Cirebon on the northern coast of Java. The port city was famous for its long history of oceanic trade and rich material culture, including glass painting, a medium that Suadi worked with throughout his artistic career. In 1959, Suadi enrolled at the art school in Bandung, joining Ahmad Sadali and A.D. Pirous. He worked intensively with printmaking before working with glass painting from the mid-1970s onwards. Today, Suadi is known for his substantial contribution to the development of modern printmaking and glass painting in Indonesia. This conversation with Haryadi Suadi’s son and collaborator Radi Arwinda, scholar Jérôme Samuel and curator Anissa Rahadiningtyas delves into Haryadi Suadi’s experimentations with printmaking and reverse glass paintings in Indonesia. This programme took place at National Gallery Singapore [https://www.nationalgallery.sg/sg/en/whats-on.html] on 19 July 2023 and was held in conjunction with the exhibition “The Neglected Dimension [https://www.nationalgallery.sg/sg/en/our-collections/past-exhibitions-festivals/the-neglected-dimension.html]”. Disclaimer: The comments and opinions expressed are those of the speaker/s, and do not represent the views of National Gallery Singapore. All copyright within this recording, without limitation, are retained by their respective owners.

Vision, Faith, and A Journey in Indonesian Art: A Conversation with A.D. Pirous, Kenneth M. George & Anissa Rahadiningtyas

Written by Kenneth M. George and Mamannoor in 2002, ‘A.D. Pirous: Vision, Faith, and A Journey in Indonesian Art, 1955-2002’ is a thorough survey of artist A.D. Pirous’s life, works and artistic practice that was born out of the long-term collaboration and friendship between A.D. Pirous and George. The book details A.D. Pirous’s stories on aspects of his life and artistic journey, highlighting his explorations of calligraphic forms and expressions and his critical position in developing the practice and discourse of modern and modern Islamic art in Indonesia. This conversation between A.D. Pirous, Kenneth M. George and exhibition curator Anissa Rahadiningtyas explores Pirous’s works in the exhibition ‘The Neglected Dimension’ while delving deeper into the process of making his prints and paintings and the stories behind them. This programme was livestreamed on 26th August 2023 in conjunction with the exhibition “The Neglected Dimension [https://www.nationalgallery.sg/sg/en/our-collections/past-exhibitions-festivals/the-neglected-dimension.html]”. It was supported by Serambi Pirous and CIVAS | Centre for Indonesian Visual Art Studies, Bandung Institute of Technology. Disclaimer: The comments and opinions expressed are those of the speaker/s, and do not represent the views of National Gallery Singapore. All copyright within this recording, without limitation, are retained by their respective owners.

Padang Spotlights #2: Sun Yee

Welcome to Padang Spotlights! These special episodes are dedicated to unearthing our archives to bring to life the rich narratives of Southeast Asian artists and art spaces.  In this spotlight, our researcher and host Tan Yen Peng [https://whitewhitewind.wixsite.com/tan-yen-peng] traces the legacy of female artist and educator Sun Yee (b. 1919, d. 2010), a pivotal but lesser-known figure in Singapore’s early art scene. As the former head of the Singapore Academy of Arts, and an artist with nearly 100 exhibitions to her name, Sun Yee played a vital role in shaping art education in Singapore but over time, her contributions have quietly faded from public memory.  Through heartfelt conversations with her former student, artist-designer Eng Siak Loy [https://newdaydesign.com.sg/about.html], and long-time friend and gallerist Johnny Yu Ching Chung [https://dynastiesartgallery.com/], Yen Peng pieces together Sun Yee’s contributions to Singapore’s artistic landscape and reflects on the importance of remembering those who laid the groundwork for today’s creative communities.  Researcher, Host & Co-editor: Tan Yen Peng  Co-editors & Producers: Adele Tan, Kelysha Cheah Kassim, Ng Zheng Hong  Audio production, Music & Sound design: Chong Li-Chuan [https://www.behance.net/lichuanchong]  -  If you’ve enjoyed Padang Spotlights, please take a moment to leave us a review.  Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/nationalgallerysingapore/?hl=en] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/nationalgallerysingapore/].  Go to www.nationalgallery.sg [http://www.nationalgallery.sg/] for more podcasts and Southeast Asian art!

The Original is An Illusion | Seng Yu Jin, Simon Soon, and Biljana Ciric

Can we conceive of exhibitions as a medium? Are exhibitions only neutral spaces for the display of artworks, or do they have agency as an aesthetic, contested and epistemic site Can we conceptualise the exhibition as a medium that generates new ways of thinking about and making art?  When talking about methodology, there is a dilemma in terms of how we can develop approaches to study exhibitions that extend beyond just art history. As part of October Gathering, “Towards a Mystical Reality: A Documentation of Jointly Initiated Experiences by Redza Piyadasa and Sulaiman Esa” (Malaysia, 1974) was restaged. It was used as a case study that could be reconstructed, reconsidered and propositioned as an exhibitionary medium, method, and “conceptual performance” that is participatory, critical and reflexive all at once. Reconstructing such exhibitions proposes a way of thinking that sees the exhibition as method and the exhibition as medium approaches as ways to demystify the original exhibition. This discussion was part of a workshop that accompanied the restaging of “Towards a Mystical Reality: A Documentation of Jointly Initiated Experiences by Redza Piyadasa and Sulaiman Esa”. Art historian Simon Soon and independent curator Biljana Ciric explored how we could develop approaches to studying exhibitions that extended beyond what we have from art history. This conversation was moderated by then Senior Curator Seng Yu Jin. This discussion took place at National Gallery Singapore [https://www.nationalgallery.sg/] on 7 October 2022, as part of October Gathering. Disclaimer: The comments and opinions expressed are those of the speaker/s, and do not represent the views of National Gallery Singapore. All copyright within this recording, without limitation, are retained by their respective owners.