Conversations
For its 10th anniversary edition Ceremony, Asia NOW presents a programme of talks with distinguished guests and, for the fourth year running, Thanks For Nothing will host a full day of public debates.
Thursday 17.10
Thursday 17.10
Thursday 17.10
Thursday 17.10
Thursday 17.10
Thursday 17.10
12:30 – 01:30
Sharjah Biennale 16: A New Configuration of Trans-national Global History
Speakers
Nawar Al Qassimi, Vice President Sharjah, Art Foundation
Rossella Biscotti, Artist, mor chapentier
Moderator
Alia Swastika, Director, Biennale Jogja Foundation, Indonesia and Co-curators Sharjah Biennale 16
01:30 – 02:30
In Conversation : Nikhil Chopra and Fi Churchman
In partnership with ArtReview
Speakers
Nikhil Chopra, Artist, Galleria Continua
Fi Churchman, Editor, ArtReview
02:30 – 03:30
Rethinking Asian Contemporary Practices from Museum and Alternative context
Speakers
Alia Swastika, Director, Biennale Jogja Foundation, Indonesia and Co-curators Sharjah Biennale 16
Venus Lau, Director of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara (Museum MACAN)
Nge lay, Artist, Intersections Gallery
Moderator Fi Churchman, Editor, ArtReview
03:30 – 04:30
“Water in One Hand and Fire in the Other” : Art, Sufism and the Living
Conversation around Sumayya Vally’s performance installation
Speakers
Sumayya Vally, Architect and principal of Counterspace, Honorary, Professor of Practice
Nadia Samdani, Co Founder, Dhaka Art Summit, Samdani Art Foundation
Eve Lemesle, Whataboutart agency, Production Director, Asia NOW, Dhaka Art Summit
Alexandra Baudelot, Director, Musée d’Art et de Culture Soufis MTO
Kathy Alliou, Curator of Sumayya Vally’s installation, Asia NOW
04:30 – 05:30
Yasufumi Nakamori in conversation with Alexandra Fain on Asia Society Museum
Speakers
Yasufumi Nakamori, Vice President for Global Artistic Programs and Director, Asia Society Museum
Alexandra Fain, Founder of Asia NOW
5:30 – 6:30
Ceremonies of Interdependence
Speakers
Mirna Bamieh, Artist, Nika Art Space
Yao QingMei, Artist
Isaac Chong Wai, Artist, Zilberman Gallery
Moderators Nicolas Bourriaud, Founder of Radicants, Guest Curator of Asia NOW 2024, Artistic Director, 15th Gwangju Biennale.
Alexander Burenkov, Radicants, Guest Curator of Asia NOW
06:30 – 07:30
China: A new generation of artists
Speakers
Philippe Bettinelli, Conservateur du patrimoine – Service des Nouveaux Médias, Centre Pompidou
Paul Frèches, Managing director, Centre Pompidou x West Bund Museum project
Yao QingMei, Artist
Alice Chen, Artist
Miao Ying, Artist
Moderator Liyu Yeo, Independent Curator, VIP Ambassador Asia NOW
Moderator Liyu Yeo, Independent Curator, VIP Ambassador Asia NOW
Friday 18.10
Friday 18.10
Friday 18.10
Friday 18.10
Friday 18.10
Friday 18.10
9:00 – 10:15
Socially committed practices: cultural worker rhizomes
Curated by Thanks for Nothing
Speaker
Abi Tariq, Afield
Jennifer Ellis, Apsara Studio
Moderator
Marine Van Schoonbeek, Thanks for Nothing
10:00
Kids Workshop – Collaborative and pedagogical workshop with the artist Frédéric Dialynas Sanchez
Organized by Thanks for Nothing
11:15 – 12:00
Spirituality, civilization and the contemporary: understanding the Islamic Arts Biennale
Speakers
Arwa Al Ali, Senior Advisor, Ministry of Culture & The Diriyah Biennale Foundation
Dr Amin Jaffer, Artistic Director, Islamic Arts Biennale 2025, Director of The Al Thani Collection
Muhannad Shono, Curator of Contemporary Art, Islamic Arts Biennale 2025
Moderator
Alia Al-Senussi, PhD Senior Advisor, International Outreach and Representative UK & MENA, Art Basel, Visiting Scholar, Brown University (Watson Institute)
Chairman, K11 Art Foundation International Council
Senior Advisor, Ministry of Culture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
12:30 – 01:30
World-building and Speculation: Digging into the artworks of Orbis Tertius
Speakers
A conversation with the Head of Arts for AFALULA and independent curator Arnaud Morand and artists Louis-Cyprien Rials, Sabine Mirlesse, Anhar Salem and Ittah Yoda led by art critic Nadine Khalil
Moderator
Nadine Khalil, Dubai-based independent art critic, consultant and curator
01:30 – 02:15
The gestures of work : an interview of Ali Kazma by Anlam Arslanoğlu
Organized by Thanks for Nothing
Speakers
Ali Kazma, Lens-based media artist
Anlam de Coster Curator, Founder of Fairplay
Moderator
Marine Van Schoonbeek, Thanks for Nothing
03:30 – 03:15
Shanghai, Penang, Singapore: Chinese Theater on the Move
Speakers
X Zhu-Nowell, Artistic Director, Rockbund Art Museum Ming Wong, Transdisciplinary Artist
Kwong Yee Leong, Collector, Founder, Blank Canvas Isaac Chong Wai, Artist, Zilberman Gallery
04:30 – 05:30
Support structures as alternative pedagogy
With Prameya Art Foundation
Speakers
Anahita Taneja, Founder, Prameya Art Foundation
Shefali Somani, Founder, Prameya Art Foundation
Anushka Rajendran, Curator, Prameya Art Foundation
05:30 – 06:30
Bridging Cultures: Consortium Museum’s Past, Present and Future
Speakers
Seungduk Kim, Co-Director, Consortium Museum
Franck Gautherot, Co-Founder & Co-Director, Consortium Museum
Moderator
Vanessa Guo, Gallerist, Art Advisor, Collector and Patron of Consortium Museum
Saturday 19.10
Saturday 19.10
Saturday 19.10
Saturday 19.10
Saturday 19.10
Saturday 19.10
11:00 – 12:00
Art South Asia Project – Artistic Journeys : South Asian Women in Paris
Speaker
Deepak Ananth Art Historian and Independent Curator
Nour Aslam Founder & Executive Director of Art South Asia Project (ASAP)
Saiful Islam MD of Majority World and Bengal Muslin
Moderator
Dr. Devika Singh Senior Lecturer in Curating at Courtauld Institute of Art, London
12:15 – 01:00
Shaping the Future Through Artistic Legacy
From the Middle East to South Asia, how art schools, art foundations, artists, collectors and creative factories combine heritage and innovation
Speakers
Orhan Gorbon, CEO Gorbon Tiles ceramic, Istanbul
Vamsi Dukkipati, Collector, India-USA
RM Naeem, Artist, Professor National College of Arts Lahore
Yasmin Sharabi, Director, Rak Art Foundation, Bahreïn
Tamara K.E, Artist, Georgia
Moderator
Anissa Touati, Curator, Researcher Brown University, USA
01:15 – 02:00
The Art of Happiness: Enjoying the Process of Collecting – Talk and Book Launch
Speakers
Mrs. Ning Chong, Art Collector, Curator, and Co-founder of The Culture Story, Singapore
Chong Zhou, Private Collector, Shanghai
Moderator
Christoph Noe, LARRY’S LIST, author of How To Not Fuck Up Your Art World Happiness Vol 1 and 2
02:00 – 02:30
Thousand Gardens: From Hazaribagh to Buriganga…
Intertwined histories of the natural world and human intervention in Dhaka, Bangladesh through the lens of an Art Trust, a foundation and an artist
Speakers
Mahbubur Rahman, Artist, Britto Art Trust,
Tayeba Begum Lipi, Artist, Britto Art Trust
Bishwajit Goswami, Artist and professor Dhaka University
Nusrat Mahmud, co-founder Brihatta foundation
Moderator
Anissa Touati, Curator and Researcher, Brown University USA
02:00 – 03:30
Kids Workshop with Yahon Chang & Patricia Pearson-Vergez
03:45 – 04:45
In Conversation: Eisa Jocson & Venuri Perera on MAGIC MAIDS : SWEEPING SISTERS with Marcella Lista
Speakers
Marcella Lista, Head Curator of New Media and Asia Pacific, Centre Pompidou
Eisa Jocson, The Columns Gallery Venuri Perera, Artist, The Columns Gallery
Sunday 20.10
Sunday 20.10
Sunday 20.10
Sunday 20.10
Sunday 20.10
Sunday 20.10
12:15 – 01:15
The Writings of Today are a Promise for Tomorow, a conversation.
Speaker
Martina Koppel Yang, PhD, Curator
Dominique Lévy, Founder of DSL Collection
Tian Dexi, Artist
01:30 – 02:30
To Build a Body : A conversation between art critic Nadine Khalil and artist Mirna Bamieh on her body of work “Sour Things”
Speaker
Mirna Bamieh, Artist, Nika Art Space
Nadine Khalil, Dubai-based independent art critic, consultant and curator
02:30 – 03:45
Nicolas Bourriaud in conversation with Elena Sorokina
Speaker
Nicolas Bourriaud, Founder of Radicants, Guest Curator, Asia NOW, Artistic Director, 15th Gwangju Biennale
Elena Sorokina, Curator, Art Historian
04:00 – 06:00
All and Nothing (2024)
Documentary screening from Li Yuan-chia Foundation followed by a discussion
This documentary explores the life of the late conceptual artist Li Yuan-chia. Tracing his journey from China, Taiwan, Italy, and to the U.K..
Speaker
Aliza Lan (Trustee, Li Yuan-Chia Foundation)
Nick Sawyer
Liao I-Ling (Director)
Chuo Po-Ying (Director)
