Experimentations in Art Journalism

Vivyan Yeo

The past year has been a time of introspection and innovation in the art world. Artists turned inwards to make sense of the global situation, and gallerists honed their digital skills to create online viewing rooms for international audiences, for example. Art journalism has played a role in this period of transformation, presenting news and projects to the industry and to the wider public. We check in with our own practices, as well as with other Singapore-based digital art journalism platforms ArtsEquator, Object Lessons Space and Plural Art Mag to take stock of how we have stayed afloat while giving support to the art community in Southeast Asia.

Funding

A&M, Trail A of ‘See-SAW’, 2021.

As we focus on producing meaningful content, we are also constantly seeking financial sustainability. A source of income for A&M is from advertising campaigns with galleries and institutions. With the uncertainties of the pandemic, spending became conservative. In its stead, institutional partnership served as a crucial source of funding. We worked with the National Arts Council (NAC) for the first time to hold two events for Singapore Art Week (SAW) 2021. One was ‘RESET’, a series of five panel discussions on critical issues such as international collaboration, digitisation and diversity in a pandemic-stricken art world. The other was ‘See-SAW’, two virtual trails of SAW projects led by well-known personalities. Held live on Zoom, ‘See-SAW’ adopted an unconventional format. For example, when featuring the SAW exhibition, ‘Maybe We Read Too Much Into Things’, curated by Berny Tan, we showcased pre-recorded footage of host Kelly Limerick exploring the show, before switching to a view of her talking about the exhibition in real time. Using the online mode’s distinct features, we took this partnership as an opportunity to experiment with new formats.

Plural Art Mag, microsite of ‘Our Heartlands’, 2020. Image courtesy of Plural Art Mag.

Plural Art Mag likewise worked with NAC on projects in the past year. Co-Founder Usha Chandradas talked about ‘Our Heartlands’, which invited 100 local artists to respond to Singapore sites that personally resonated with them. Artist Adeline Kueh, for instance, created ‘Rama-rama masuk rumah (Butterflies Inside The House)’ (2020) in response to her home neighbourhood, Serangoon Greens. Through a pair of photographic prints on diasec and a video, the work pays tribute to the mundane beauty of wildflowers and insects in Singapore. Plural Art Mag did not take a commission, and all proceeds from artwork sales went directly to the respective artists.

For SAW 2021, Plural Art Mag also partnered with NAC to organise the SAW Symposium, a series of seven physical panel discussions on issues such as cultural policy and philanthropy, urban planning and the state of art fairs, among others. Involving many collaborators, this event invited A&M and Art SG to each organise one talk for the symposium as well. Together, we held conversations about Singapore's economy and the road ahead for the art world.

Exhibition catalogue of 'The Body as a Dream: A Singapore Art Story' by Art Agenda, S.E.A. available at A&M Marketplace.

Art journalism platforms have also been experimenting with alternative modes of funding, such as the creation of online shops. We recently launched A&M Marketplace, where visitors can purchase exhibition catalogues, artist monographs, vintage books and original artworks on consignment from gallerists, artists and collectors. Similarly, Plural Art Mag has created Shop Plural, an online store that offers limited edition art objects from Southeast Asian artists. “We hoped to provide another kind of revenue stream for the artists involved,” says Chandradas. "We are grateful that the community has always been supportive, whether it is by interacting with us on our social media accounts, spreading the word about our various initiatives and stories, or giving us leads on what is happening on the ground. Thankfully, the pandemic has not changed that at all.”

The regional community has also been contributing funds directly to art journalism platforms. In addition to the complications arising from COVID-19, ArtsEquator had lost their seed funding from the NAC in 2020. It responded by holding the fundraising campaign ‘Ctrl S ArtsEquator’ to continue publishing stories on the visual arts, as well as dance, theatre, literature, film and more. Editor Nabilah Binte Muhammad Said noted that the campaign raised over SGD20,000 in three months, which has been helpful for paying staff salaries, commissioning content from freelance writers, and purchasing tickets for reviewers to attend events.

Both Plural Art Mag and Object Lessons Space, the latter founded by Joella Kiu in 2018, also launched their Patreon pages last year. Patreon allows members of the community to make a contribution at their discretion to platforms every month. Although the initiative has gained some support, more patrons are needed to generate funding significant enough for operations. At the time of writing, Plural Art Mag has five contributors on their Patreon page, while Object Lessons Space is a distance away from reaching its first goal of receiving a total of SGD450 monthly, which would go towards covering the day-to-day costs of facilitating written dialogues for art lovers.

Support for the Community

In the spirit of giving back, art journalism platforms have also supported the Southeast Asian art community in creative ways. Some of our projects have been geared towards promoting young contributors in the scene. Through our monthly ‘Fresh Faces’ series, we have been publishing content on emerging artists such as Kamolros Wonguthum, who is based in London and Bangkok, as well as Singapore artist Divaagar and Indonesian artist Alexander Sebastianus Hartonto. We have also included a section in CHECK-IN which features new artworks from the 12 artists we have featured in ‘Fresh Faces’. We also announced our second annual writing contest ’Fresh Take’, this time in partnership with KONNECT ASEAN, in search of new perspectives on art in Southeast Asia, and for this iteration, Korea as well. By providing opportunities for new voices to be heard, these projects help up-and-coming artists and writers share their work.

In a similar bid to encourage critical art writing, ArtsEquator has recently launched the inaugural AE x Goethe-Institut Critical Writing Micro-Residency 2021/2022. Six Southeast Asian writers, including Vietnamese writer Nhuan Dong and Filipino practitioner Mariah Reodica, have been selected to each undertake a two-month residency, between May 2021 and May 2022, to produce one article in the form of a review, reflection piece or editorial essay.

Screenshot of a conversation from ‘Burning Questions’, featuring Bernice Lee, Katrina Stuart Santiago, Maria Tri Sulistyani and moderator Corrie Tan. Photo courtesy of ArtsEquator.

All the platforms have made it a priority to not only stay in touch with the community but also to attract new audiences. Amidst global lockdowns, Plural Art Mag organised events such as Game Nights over Zoom, with multiple-choice quizzes such as ‘Guess the Artist’ about wellknown international and Southeast Asian figures. “We saw the pandemic as an opportunity to reach out to new readers,” Chandradas shares. “We charged no entrance fees and sponsored our own prizes, with the larger view of promoting regional art at a time when physical movement was restricted.” ArtsEquator also launched a dialogue series titled ‘Burning Questions,’ which aimed to answer timely questions such as if there was hope for integrity and intimacy in online performance. This project was funded by a grant from the Singapore-based media startup Splice Media, which supports other media startups in Asia by reporting news, advising organisations and providing funding. The same grant also funded commissions of writing relating to Covid-19, allowing ArtsEquator to publish, for example, three essays that observed the effects of the pandemic on the Vietnamese, Philippines and Indonesian art scenes.

Looking beyond the art scene, Object Lessons Space attended to the local community’s immediate needs during the Circuit Breaker period. It contributed to Wares Mutual Aid, a community-run spreadsheet that connects people in need with those who can offer help. For this purpose, the platform raised funds through the sale of merchandise such as limited-edition postcards illustrated by Singapore artists Joy Ho, Mirza Jaafar, Dianna Sa’ad and Kaelyn Quek.

Postcards that were on sale to raise funds for Wares Mutual Aid. Image courtesy of Object Lessons Space.

Best Stories of the Year

Whilst dealing with the curveballs emerging from the pandemic, and thinking on their feet about new ways to connect with their audiences, art journalism platforms have continued to feature stories from the community. Kiu from Object Lessons Space reports that the site’s most well-received stories were its interviews with writer Diana Rahim, artist Marla Bendini and sound designer Tini Aliman. “The conversations I have had with these creative practitioners often lead to long-term, sustained relationships,” she reflects. “I feel incredibly lucky to count some of them as co-conspirators today.” Working with individuals from many disciplines, the platform shows its commitment to create nuanced, intersectional dialogues about art.

The platforms have also been instrumental in drawing out trends in the regional art ecosystem. Plural Art Mag, known for its accessible content, highlighted the dominant presence of young contributors at SAW 2021. In January, it published a story by Helmi Yusof, Deputy Editor (Lifestyle) of 'The Business Times', titled ‘Millennials are Taking Over Art – and They Don’t Give a Shit About Your Fuddy Duddy Values’. Integrating personal anecdotes and hopes for the future, he distilled clear takeaways from the art week which boasted over 100 shows.

Over at A&M, we saw long-form essays gaining favour with readers. Penned by Ian Tee, Associate Editor at A&M, ‘Why Have Artists Started Independent Spaces and Galleries?’ is one of the site’s most widely shared essays. Through extensive research and interviews with multihyphenated artists in Southeast Asia, the story brings attention to the vital role of artist-run spaces and foregrounds the circumstances behind their establishment. This inaugural issue of CHECK-IN is an extension of the work we do with the A&M website, and aims to aggregate and reveal regional tendencies for topics such as the digital transformation of auction houses, the changing landscape of residency models, the motivations of Southeast Asian collectors and more.

Creating stories is also a way to embark on cross-disciplinary endeavours. Said from ArtsEquator highlights ‘Transcultural Lullabies’, a collaboration between Malaysian artist Sharon Chin and Rohingya poet Mayyu Ali.

Sharon Chin, artwork made in response to a pairing of Rohingya lullaby Taa Taa (Clap Clap) and Malaysian folk song Lagu Tiga Kupang (Three Coins Song) for ‘Transcultural Lullabies’, 2020. Image courtesy of the artist and ArtsEquator.

The platform paired lullabies and folk songs from the Rohingya and Malaysian community, while Chin illustrated gifs that further intertwined the two. “It is symbolically powerful to witness solidarity within artistic communities,” Said contemplates. “More urgently, the project is about documentation, resilience and cultural memory in the context of the persecution of the Rohingya people and the current unrest in Myanmar.”

Earlier this year, A&M similarly brought different disciplines together by holding the first A&M Salon, a regular gathering to talk about art at intersections with other disciplines. The first discussion, titled ‘The Past is in the Present’, was organised in partnership with Epigram Books. It considered the book ‘Robert Yeo at Eighty: A Celebration’ as its starting point and focused on the intersections between art and literature. As the moderator of the talk, I heard many critical views on how we remember Singapore’s history from the speakers: artist Sim Chi Yin, poet and playwright Alfian Sa’at, literature professor Ismail S. Talib and writer Robert Yeo. By fostering collaboration across disciplines, such events play a part in building a world of mutual understanding.

The past year has encouraged, even necessitated experimentations with the ways we operate. It has pushed us out of our comfort zones and strengthened our belief in the value of the work that we do. We have been heartened by support from the community, and are equally committed to giving it back. As we navigate uncharted waters of the pandemic through new collaborations and conversations, we are reimagining what art journalism could look like in the years to come.