Intimate Publics - FORUM

Event Name

Start Date

18th Oct 2011 6:00pm

End Date

18th Oct 2011 8:00pm

Duration

2 hours

Description

Intimate Publics - Utopia, image by Larissa Hjorth

Image: Larissa Hjorth

Utopia @ Asialink presented a free public forum, Intimate Publics: new models for art engagement, creativity and politics in the Asia Pacific region, chaired by Larissa Hjorth and Daniel Palmer. Presented by Asialink in association with Melbourne Festival and Fehily Contemporary.

A forum and exhibition themed around art in the Asia Pacific region, this first collaboration with itinerant visual arts project Utopia heralds the beginning of a long term relationship for the Melbourne Festival's annual visual arts program.

As social, geo-social and mobile media render the intimate public and the public intimate, how does it impact on art practice and politics?

Drawing on a variety of case studies, including the regional initiative Utopia and the recent disaster in Japan, this forum tackled questions about the capacity for people to take part in politics, and the relationship of politics to our personal lives.

Chaired by Larissa Hjorth, RMIT, and Daniel Palmer, Monash University

Speakers included:

Professor Stephanie Hemelryk Donald, Dean, School of Media & Communication, RMIT, Melbourne
Tan Boon Hui, Director of Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
Yusaku Imamura, Director of Tokyo Wonder Site, Tokyo
Sunjung Kim, independent curator, Artistic Director of Media City Seoul 2010 & Co-Artistic Director of 2012 Gwangju Biennale
Natalie King, Director of Utopia, Melbourne
Deeksha Nath, curator and writer, New Delhi
Professor Nikos Papastergiadis, School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne

FORUM

DATE:		Tuesday 18th October, 2011
TIME:		6-8.00pm
VENUE:		Yasuko Hiraoka Myer Room, Level 1, Sidney Myer Asia Centre, The University of Melbourne, Parkville (Cnr Swanston and Monash Road)
COST:		Free

EXHIBITION

DATE:		Thursday 13th October - Saturday 5th November 2011
TIME:		Wednesday - Saturday 11am - 5.30pm. Closed Sunday - Tuesday
VENUE:		Fehily Contemporary, Loft Gallery 3a Glasshouse Road, Collingwood
COST:		Free

Curated by Utopia @ Asialink, Intimate Publics is an exhibition of video projections that delve into the revelatory world of intimacy within public spaces, probing the effect that the ever-present social media has on our public expression of emotion.

Artworks include Larissa Hjorth's CU project, in which she asked perfect strangers to disclose intimate moments via saved SMS messages paired with evocative photographic images.