The Bagri Foundation is delighted to announce news of Noel Ed De Leon’s Microcosmic Orbit, one of the five commissions for its At Home in the World open call. Set up in April 2020, it invited artists to create works in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, offering £1,000 for the winners to realise their proposals.
De Leon, who won in the ‘Lectures & Courses’ category, has created a work that takes the form of three digital conversations and live-stream performances, in which he invites a series of guest artists, researchers and cultural activists to undertake a virtual tour of his personal collection of historical artefacts. These are staged from the attic of his home — recently converted into an exhibition space.
Curated by Eva Bentcheva and working in collaboration with Berlin-based artist Pepe Dayaw, cultural anthropologist/activist Tran Thu Trang, and London-based artist Erika Tan, De Leon has drawn together a selection of objects to which they respond. These range from original equipment from the First and Second World Wars collected in Britain and the Philippines, to found objects, tribal artefacts and remnants of artworks, and he’s chosen three core themes directed at each guest respectively.
With Pepe Dayaw, he explores notions of ‘sheltering’, delving into the deeply symbolic and aesthetic nature of interiority, housing and survival. The second is ‘wrapping’ with Trang Thu Trang, which will explore the dynamics of visibility and invisibility which migrants often face. The final is ‘temporalities’ with Erika Tan, which will probe into the importance of coincidental survival of historical objects in shaping the writing of fragmented and layered histories.
Through this project it will reveal how objects reflect histories of exchange, conflict and interdependence between Southeast Asia and Europe. Also, during these attic ‘visits’, De Leon and the collaborating artists will jointly conceive three live-streamed events around the aforementioned themes. This could be anything from the building of a temporary installation in the attic, to spoken commentary, debate, poetry, music or even cooking, and will be shown online over the course of July to September.
The dates are as follows:
• 17 July 2020, 1pm – ‘Sheltering’ with Pepe Dayaw will delve into the deeply symbolic and aesthetic nature of interiority, housing and survival.
• 14 August 2020, 1pm – ‘Wrapping’ with Trang Thu Trang will explore the dynamics of visibility and invisibility which migrants often face.
• 18 September 2020, 1pm – ‘Temporalities’ with Erika Tan will probe into the importance of coincidental survival of historical objects in shaping the writing of fragmented and layered histories.
The winner of the ‘Written Word’ category, the poet Shagufta Iqbal, examines ways in which humans cope, connect and create, particularly in relation to motherhood and in the context of the modern-day family. Having grown up in a South Asian single-parent family, Iqbal is now raising her own two children as a single parent. The new work is inspired by slips of notes and pictures that her children and she exchange when they leave for their father’s home, shared throughout July on the Foundation’s social media platforms — enhancing the poetry and showing the ways in which love and obligation intersect with parenthood and childhood. Iqbal’s final commission, premiering in early August, will see the creation of a poem that discuss the triumphs and difficulties of such an environment, how care, solidarity and love are created in spaces where survival is often the overwhelming focus.
Alka Bagri, Trustee, Bagri Foundation, says: ‘I am pleased that we could bring together such a range of experienced creatives for Microcosmic Orbit. I cannot wait for them to explore being at home in the world via a diversity of virtual responses to Noel’s collection in the loft. His artefacts are loaded with historical context and personal memories, and I’m excited to see how each guest responds.’
Chelsea Pettitt, Head of Arts, Bagri Foundation, says: ‘With travel being massively limited, I am particularly excited to see how global creatives can still come together to make new work digitally. Noel’s live performance practice had to be quickly rethought when he could no longer be there in person. We are thrilled to be able to help him execute a long-held ambition to explore histories of exchange, conflict, and interdependence between Southeast Asia and Europe - via his attic!’
The other winners were Jasmin Kent Rodgman (Visual Arts), Eiko Soga (Film) and Jennae Santos (Sound) aka WSABI Fox. Rodgman’s visual creations inspired by new music and Malaysian poetry, hot B stars, can be seen on Bagri Foundation’s social media platforms and website from 1st July 2020. Soga’s and Santos’ commissions will premiere in late Summer.
For press information please contact Albany Arts Communications:
Mark Inglefield
mark@albanyartscommunications.com
t: +44 (0) 20 78 79 88 95; m: +44 (0) 75 84 19 95 00
Carla von der Becke
carla@albanyartscommunications.com
t: +44 (0) 20 78 79 88 95; m: + 44 (0) 79 74 25 29 94
Notes to Editors:
About Noel Ed De Leon
De Leon is a visual and performance artist whose practice spans archiving, installation and performance art. His work explores the themes of history and memory, engaging with questions of how historical conflicts, migrations and exchanges may be traced through surviving historical objects. Born in Pangasinan in the Philippines, he moved to Manila and graduated with a degree in architecture. In 2007, he relocated to London with his wife, Leah, along with their three children. A year later, when the recession hit, he began to pursue work as an artist, finding ways to express not only his personal experiences in a global economy, but also his passion for investigating historical traces and resonances across Southeast Asia and Europe.
In 2012, he met Filipino veteran artist, David Medalla (b. 1938), and was subsequently able to participate in the London Biennale — an informal and experimental art network headed up by Medalla. De Leon designed his first site-specific performance, Life As I Know It (2012) on Trafalgar Square using original gas masks from the First and Second World Wars which he had begun to purchase from markets in London. He has since continued to experiment working with historical objects purchased from markets and private collectors in Britain and the Philippines. He most often uses these objects in live performance, combining them with his own body as a means to express lingering connections of war, violence, exploitation and global capitalism within which many Filipino migrant workers often find themselves.
Since 2015 he has been co-director of Batubalani Art Projects – alongside art historian and curator Eva Bentcheva – which is a London-based non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting Filipino modern and contemporary art in academia and curatorial practices. Since relocating to London, he has gathered a large personal collection of historical objects. These are currently housed in his family’s home and are ‘activated’ when he performs. Since 2016, he has been reflecting upon ways to invite others to engage with the collection and make new links between his practice. He is particularly interested in collaborations with artists, scholars and curators whose practice addresses the role of archiving in contemporary art and investigate how private and public historical collections produce new insights on the histories of exchange, conflict, destruction and inter-dependency connection Southeast Asia and Europe.
About Shagufta Iqbal
Longlisted for the Jerwood Poetry prize, Shagufta Iqbal is a poet, filmmaker, workshop facilitator, and TEDx Speaker. She is described by Gal Dem as a poet whose work ‘leaves you validated but aching – her narratives are important, heart-wrenching and relatable.’ Her poetry collection Jam Is For Girls, Girls Get Jam, has been recommended by Nikesh Shukla (editor of the 2016 best-selling The Good Immigrant) as ‘a social political masterclass in its exploration of cities, cultures, race, food and family’. She is also published in the Slam anthology with Macmilian.
In 2018 she co-founded Kiota, a support organisation for POC creatives in the South West where they run a series of mentoring and multi-disciplinary peer learning programmes. She is also the founder of the poetry collective ‘The YoniVerse’, which gives a platform to South Asian female poets, and aims to encourage young women from the South Asian community to participate in spoken word and poetry. In 2018 she judged the Burning Eye Books BAME pamphlet competition to encourage a more diverse range of voices to break into printed spoken word. Since then she has continued to work with Burning Eye Books working with and mentoring poets through the publication and touring process.
She co-created and wrote the 2015 award winning poetry film Borders with Director Elizabeth Mizon, which has been screened at London Short Film Festival, Glasgow Short Film Festival, Encounters Film Festival, and Tongues on Fire Asian Film Festival, Athena Film Festival, Belfast Human Rights Festival. The success of the film resulted in awards for best writer and best editor at Underwire Film Festival, and winner of best experimental film with WVN Film Festival and winner of the Zealous Emerge Film prize. She is currently writing her debut novel and a second poetry collection.
About Pepe Dayaw
Pepe Dayaw is an artist and anthropologist of Filipino heritage, born in Manila, migrated to many places and now resides in Brandenburg, Germany. He obtained Master’s degree scholarships in International Performance Research at the University of Amsterdam and Warwick; Performing Arts and Visual Culture at the University of Alcala / Museum of Reina Sofia; as well as Art History, Creative Writing, and Philippine Art Studies from the University of the Philippines. He is a trained dancer, having learned traditional folk dances from the Philippines while being part of a church. Singing, speaking many languages, hospitalities, ritual-making and facilitating: social skills that he learned in the school of life forms part of his repertoire as a storyteller. He developed methodologies and pedagogies of lifelong learning through a migrant cooking concept of leftovers (Nowhere Kitchen) and many other repertoires of cooking the body (Social Dance Laboratory). He co-founded the Sari-Sari, a community of artistic lives and practices that collaborate on ecologies of performance and economies of friendships.
About Tran Thu Trang
Tran Thu Trang studied social and cultural anthropology at Freie Universität Berlin. Her practice oscillates between cultural work and grass root political activism. Since 2013 she has been part of the Berlin Asian Film Network, a platform for Asian diasporic (and beyond) filmmakers and artists. Since 2017, Tran has been an pro bono board member of the Migrationsrat Berlin e.V. Between 2016 and 2017 she was a member of the free theatre network cobratheater.cobra, part of the project Haus der Digitalen Jugend (House of Digital Youth), funded by Doppelpassfonds. She is currently in the co-founding process of the intersectional feminist NGO Connected Differences.
http://www.migrationsrat.de
http://www.berlinasianfilm.net
About Erika Tan
Erika Tan’s practice is primarily research-led and manifests in multiple formats (moving image, publications, curatorial and participatory projects). Recent research has focused on the postcolonial and transnational, working with archival artefacts, exhibition histories, received narratives, contested heritage, subjugated voices and the transnational movement of ideas, people and objects. Selected exhibitions: As the West Slept, (Performa, New York 2019); By All Estimates (4A Sydney 2019); Paralogical Machines (Wei-Ling Contemporary, KL 2019); The Diaspora Pavilion (Venice Biennale 2017); Artist and Empire (Tate/National Gallery Singapore 2016/7); Come Cannibalise Us, Why Don’t You (NUS Museum, Singapore 2014); Thermocline of Art (ZKM, Germany 2007); The Singapore Biennale (2006); Cities on the Move (Hayward Gallery, London).
Erika is a lecturer in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins College of Art (London), Associate Researcher with Decolonising The Arts Institute (UAL), and currently a Stanley Picker Fine Art Fellow, Kingston University. She is currently developing a film and installation project titled Barang-Barang which resonances of the notion ‘belongings’ across different Southeast Asian languages, collections, and mythologies.
https://www.erikatan.net/barang-barang
About Eva Bentcheva
Eva Bentcheva is an art historian and curator. She holds a PhD in Art History from SOAS, University of London. Her research focuses on transnational performance and conceptual art practices, particularly connecting Asia and Europe. Together with Noel Ed De Leon, she is co-director of Batubalani Art Projects, working to promote Philippine art in curatorial practices and academia in Britain and Germany. She has held research and curatorial fellowships at the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art in London, and was the Goethe-Institut Postdoctoral Fellow at Haus der Kunst in Munich. In 2019, she co-curated the exhibition ‘Archives in Residence: Southeast Asia Performance Collection’ with Annie Jael Kwan and Damian Lentini at Haus der Kunst. She was previously a Visiting Research Fellow (2016) and Adjunct Researcher (2017-18) for the Tate Research Centre: Asia, with a focus on conceptual and performative practices in Philippine art during the 1960s-80s.
About the Bagri Foundation
The Bagri Foundation is a UK registered charity, inspired by unique and unexpected ideas that weave the traditional and the contemporary of Asian culture. The Foundation is driven by curiosity, a desire to learn and supports a myriad of exciting artistic programmes that challenge, engage and inspire. Through a diverse programme of film, visual arts, music, dance, literature, courses and lectures, the Bagri Foundation gives artists and experts from across Asia, or those inspired by the continent, wider visibility on the global stage.
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