Online course on art and the environment in Southeast Asia
The National Gallery Singapore presents the online course ‘Art and the Environment in Southeast Asia: Environment as Contested Space’, which delves into 1970s Southeast Asia and uncovers powerful intersections of art, society, and the environment.
This course examines how artists from Southeast Asia in the 1970s responded to environmental issues and concerns through their works. Some of their works functioned as a direct means of protest, advocating for immediate action against the exploitative depletion and degradation of natural resources. The inclusion of unconventional materials including text, organic and found objects, photographs and even the body became powerful tools in engaging with these urgent concerns.
Through understanding the strategies that these artists used, students will learn how artists engaged with the environment as a site of contestation, consequently reshaping society’s relationship with their surroundings.
This is a 6-week, self-guided, online course.