23 Cranberry St. Brooklyn, NY
Asia Art Archive in America was pleased to present a walkthrough of our current exhibition “The Collective School” led by Gudskul-member and artist farid rakun. The walkthrough was followed by a conversation moderated by writer, editor, and curator Minh Nguyen. farid rakun (ruangrupa) shared his experience in how to sustain external institutional possibilities, and how to absorb them to enrich the collectives’ agenda. He took the audience through examples like Gudskul’s intervention as Fridskul in documenta fifteen, Asia Art Archive (in Hong Kong and New York), Bauhaus Dessau, and the forthcoming book Praktik Mendahului Kata: Yang Penting CAPEK (Cara Ampuh Praktik Estetika Kolektif).
“The Collective School” is an exhibition co-curated by Asia Art Archive and Gudskul, a Jakarta-based artist-run educational knowledge-sharing platform, that explores artist-driven and collective models of learning in Asia through the works of nine participating collectives. First presented at AAA Hong Kong’s Library from Oct. 2022 – Feb. 2023, the exhibition traveled to the Asia Art Archive in America and is on view from September 15, 2023, to January 12, 2024.
farid rakun
Trained as an architect (B.Arch from Universitas Indonesia and M.Arch from Cranbrook Academy of Art), farid rakun wears different hats depending on who is asking. He is a part of the artists’ collective ruangrupa with whom he co-curated SONSBEEK ’16: transACTION (Arnhem, Netherlands, 2016)and contributed to the collective artistic direction for documenta fifteen (Kassel, Germany, 2022).
ruangrupa is a Jakarta-based collective established in 2000. It is a non-profit organization that strives to support the idea of art within urban and cultural context by involving artists and other disciplines such as social sciences, politics, technology, media, etc, to critically observe and engage with Indonesian urban contemporary issues. ruangrupa also produces collaborative works in the form of art projects such as exhibition, festival, art lab, workshop, research, as well as book, magazine and online-journal publication.
Minh Nguyen
Minh Nguyen is a writer and organizer of exhibitions and programs based in New York City. Her writing has appeared in publications including ArtAsiaPacific, Art in America, frieze, and Momus, among others. She has curated exhibitions and programs at Wing Luke Museum in Seattle; the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago; and the Chicago Cultural Center, specifically what flies but never lands? (2021). Nguyen has taught at Parsons School of Design, The New School, and received a 2022 Andy Warhol Arts Writers grant. Currently a visiting scholar at New York University’s A/P/A Institute, she is working on a forthcoming book with Art Metropole.
The event is funded in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Ruth Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts.