15 Tracks: Contemporary Southeast Asian Art

This exhibition is a reconstructed version of 36 Ideas from Asia: Contemporary Southeast Asian Art, a show organised by the Singapore Art Museum and presented in four European cities last year and early this year. After discussions between the Japanese and Singaporean organisers, the number of artists, who hail from ten ASEAN countries (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam), was narrowed down from 36 to 15. The exhibition contains 34 works of art, including paintings, installations and video. Most of them were shown in 36 Ideas but there are some additions from the collections of the Singapore Art Museum and the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum. Our intention in reducing the number of artists and increasing the number of works per artist was to make possible a greater understanding of the individual artists. All of the works reflect the serious attitude of the artists in observing contemporary society as well as the traditional culture of their own countries from diverse perspectives, and they demonstrate the vitality of the Asian art scene.

This exhibition, cooperatively organised and prepared by organisations in Japan and Singapore, overcoming linguistic and geographical barriers, was an achievement made possible by the extensive exchanges that have been carried out over the years between Japan and other Asian countries and an expression of the expectations that have been cultivated for further relationships. It will give the Japanese public an opportunity to become more familiar with the contemporary art of the ASEAN nations and a better sense of what is being done by contemporary Asia. We sincerely hope that it will contribute to greater mutual understanding between Japan and the ASEAN countries.