Berlin

30 August 2019

30 August, 3.30 pm / Reception 9 pm Symposium

Starting from the historical upheavals and postcolonial situations, the symposium will investigate the interconnections between architecture, urbanism and social development in the context of independence. Furthermore, architectural concepts and their spatial adaptations will be addressed in terms of their relevance for contemporary urban society. Each of the four locations will be examined in terms of the respective framework conditions and models of social development, raising questions such as:

How did local modernisms emerge in Southeast Asia, what role did international discourse play in their development, and what solutions do they offer today?

What promises can be found in the architectural concepts, what values and ideas underlie them, and what narratives are inscribed in the design?

How do architecture and urban design that developed from modernist concepts reach beyond the local context to impact the broader, global discourse?

Programme:

3:00 pm
Admission

3:30 pm

Greeting
Dr. Stefan Buchwald, Federal Foreign Office, Director Culture & Media Relations Africa, Asia, Australia/Pacific, Latin America/Caribbean

Welcome and introduction
Sally Below, Moritz Henning, Christian Hiller, Eduard Kögel, artistic directors, Encounters with Southeast Asian Modernism


PANEL 1

Moderation:
Eduard Kögel, curator, architectural scholar, lecturer, Berlin

The SEArch Continues…
Shirley Surya, curator for Design and Architecture, M+ museum for visual culture, Hong Kong

Contextualising Modernism: Asian Modernity
Johannes Widodo, Associate Professor at the Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore

Modernism in Singapore
Puay-Peng Ho, Professor, Head of Department of Architecture, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore

Myanmar Modernity
Win Thant Win Shwin, architect, planner, lecturer at the Department of Architecture, Mandalay Technological University, Myanmar
Pwint, Professor, Deputy Head of Department of Architecture, Yangon Technical University, Myanmar

5:30 pm
Break

6:00 pm
PANEL 2

Moderation:
Ute Meta Bauer, Director of the Centre for Contemporary Art, Professor at the School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Brief Impressions on Modern Architecture in Indonesia
Setiadi Sopandi, architect, Indra Tata Adilaras Architects, curator, architectural scholar, Jakarta, Indonesia

Preparing the SEAM Space Jakarta
Avianti Armand, architect, Avianti Armand Studio, curator, architectural scholar, Jakarta, Indonesia

Figuring Phnom Penh as Grounds and Facades: An Archaeology of the City
Sereypagna Pen, architect, urban researcher, Executive Director of The Vann Molyvann Project, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Exhibiting the Contested Modern in Cambodia
Lyno Vuth, artist, curator, Artistic Director of Sa Sa Art Projects, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

7:25 pm
Break

7:45 pm
De-Modernising the School in Practice: Reflections from Gudskul – Contemporary Art Collective and Ecosystem
farid rakun, artist, researcher, instigator, ruangrupa, Jakarta, Indonesia

Discussion and Conclusion
Avianti Armand, Puay-Peng Ho, Pwint, farid rakun, Shirley Surya, Lyno Vuth

9:00 pm
Reception

Venue:
TAK at Aufbau Haus
Prinzenstrasse 85 F
10969 Berlin

The symposium will be held in English.

After the symposium reception in the courtyard of the TAK.

Admission is free. Please register until 28 August.

Contact for further information and registration:
mail@seam-encounters.net

Please find the programme with further information here.

As a public prelude to the project Encounters with Southeast Asian Modernism in the Bauhaus centenary, a symposium in Berlin brings together international curators and experts to explore the history and the presence of modernism in Southeast Asia in the four selected cities.