Foreword
This dedicated website unpacks the social, political and historical landscape which surrounds the Pollination project ‘Of Hunters And Gatherers’. Conceived by its curators – LIR and Kittima Chareeprasit – as a discursive archive with which to broaden audiences understanding of the contexts behind the art and motivation of Pollination artists, Maryanto and Ruangsak Anuwatwimon.
This third edition of Pollination is an ambitious platform, composed of not only this online collection of texts and visual documentation, but also a two-person exhibition (hosted by MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai), titled ‘The Hunters’, featuring the newly commissioned work of Maryanto and Ruangsak; and an online symposia (hosted by Selasar Sunaryo Art Space, with the support of the Gray Centre for Arts and Inquiry, University of Chicago), titled ‘The Gatherers’, featuring presentations by Elizabeth D. Inandiak, JJ. Rizal, Maryanto, Napak Serirak, Prilla Tania, Ruangsak Anuwatwimon, Sutthirat Supaparinya,The Forest Curriculum, Tita Salina, and Wut Chalanant. All of this being made possible by our sponsors SAM Fund for Arts and Ecology, and MAIIAM Museum of Contemporary Art.
What is neatly revealed between these three facets of the project is a depth of research, introspection, care and passion for the relationship between contemporary art production, its situatedness (ie. Context), and the critical necessity of textual, performative and visual interrogation. One other key element across all facets is the interdisciplinary nature in approach, this entire endeavour having consulted/commissioned/employed not only historians, anthropologists, artists, journalists, scientists, but also miners, fisherman, village shamans, folk oracles and many many more.
It is a pleasure to be the commissioner of such a project, to have learnt so much from alternate perspective and perception – which is indeed the point of Pollination. To learn, support, adapt, advocate and nurture alternate networks of knowledge exchange; particularly between artists, curators and its local/regional cultural infrastructural system of support (its arts organizations, collectors and benefactors). Within South East Asia today, we possess a dynamically diverse artistic community that has its own unique survival strategies in the face of economic woe and political restriction. ‘Of Hunters And Gatherers’ is a brilliant reflection of how a social conscience can compel stunning works of art. It is also a reflection of how important it is to support ideas of culture today that is critical of the realities we assume.
Zoe Butt
Artistic Director, The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre.