This brief presentation will showcase how we approach the topos of Southeast Asia in NAFA-UAS. Since its founding, NAFA has engaged in the research practice of Southeast Asian arts discourse. This myriad of explorations and manifestations was crystallised in 2009, when the Institute of Southeast Asian Arts was formed to actively nurture practice and research specific to the arts of this region. Through collaborative and inquiry-based strategies, ISEAA and NAFA have instituted practice and discourse in Southeast Asian Arts, to build a community of the highly engaged and foster agency. Some of these different platforms and projects, such as the Southeast Asian academy wide project and the annual Southeast Asian Arts Forum, will help illustrate NAFA’s key levers and thought leadership.

Bridget Tracy Tan is Senior Director for the Institute of Southeast Asian Arts and Art Galleries, and the Academic Advisor for Southeast Asian Arts at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. Formerly a curator at the Singapore Art Museum (now National Gallery Singapore), she holds a First Class Honours degree in History of Art. Her PhD in practice-led research as a curator and critical art historian was obtained from the University of the Arts London. The thesis critically explored Southeast Asian museology and Southeast Asian curating in contemporary paradigms that extend into global platforms, specifically, biennales. Dr Tan continues to assemble exhibitions and facilitate the teaching of Southeast Asian arts. She has contributed essays and articles on local and regional artists in seminal publications. Her research and teaching at the postgraduate level often engage the interdisciplinary across cultures. Over the last two decades she has also facilitated regional and international juries at competitions for photography and painting.

Sponsor(s): Center for Southeast Asian Studies, UCLA Center for Performance Studies