Kawita Vatanajyankur is included in “Liquidscape: Southeast Asia Today” at Arts Maebashi from 21 September ― 24 December, 2024.
Today, Southeast Asia is experiencing rapid economic and urban development, varying and diversifying its lifestyles. At the same time, its history and landscapes, beliefs rooted in the land, and relationships with nature also exist as a foundation of society. They sometimes merge and conflict, creating new realities, lifestyles, and worldviews.
The exhibition, named “Liquidscape”, alludes to Southeast Asia’s fluid cultural and social landscape and aims to introduce this state of flux with 12 groups of artists. The participating artists consist of the younger generation, including seven artists born after the 1980s. They have experienced global events such as the end of the Cold War and the advent of technology, including the emergence of the internet, iPhone, and social media, as well as significant changes to the world’s framework and the rise of Asia. Four female artists aim to add new perspectives to existing values by rethinking the female body and the social position of women. Through these experiences and visions, they reflect on Southeast Asia, a region filled with diversity and fluidity.
The commonality found in all works is the artists’ forward-looking attitudes, which seek to answer the question of where we came from and where we are heading in this liquidscape. Through their works, we can learn not only about an aspect of the multifaceted world that is Southeast Asia, but also about the contradictions, chaos, hopes, and new possibilities of contemporary society that exist everywhere worldwide.
21 September 2024
