Deepening EU-ASEAN ties through art and culture

Image: (from left to right) Curator Dr Anna Lovecchio, Assistant Director (Programmes), NTU CCA Singapore; Professor Joseph Liow, Dean of the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, NTU Singapore; artist Priyageetha Dia from Singapore; and Iwona Piórko, European Union Ambassador to Singapore.

NTU Singapore and the European Union Delegation to Singapore today announced three artists selected for the second edition of the SEA AiR exchange programme and the European arts institutions that will host their artistic residencies.

The SEA AiR – Studio Residencies for Southeast Asian Artists in the EU (SEA AiR) programme is a pioneering project started in 2022 that positions Singapore as a hub for artistic exchange between the EU and Southeast Asia. This collaboration, facilitated by the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore (NTU CCA Singapore) and the EU Delegation to Singapore, brings together the EU, Singapore and Southeast Asia through the arts.

Selected from a pool of 21 candidates nominated from across the region, the three participants in the second cycle of SEA AiR are: Priyageetha DIA (Singapore); NGOC Nau (Vietnam); and Saroot SUPASUTHIVECH (Thailand).

For the current cycle, SEA AiR also expanded its collaborative network establishing new partnerships with arts institutions in Europe. The institutional partners that will welcome the artists in their residency programmes are: Jan van Eyck Academie (Maastricht, the Netherlands); Künstlerhaus Bethanien (Berlin, Germany); and Rupert (Vilnius, Lithuania).

Taking place in the first half of 2023, the residencies will enable the artists to pursue their research interests and immerse themselves in a new cultural context.

Priyageetha Dia will have her residency at Jan van Eyck Academie, Ngoc Nau at Rupert and Saroot Supasuthivech at Künstlerhaus Bethanien. When they return, the artists will dedicate themselves to the production of new artworks, inspired by their research and experience in Europe, with the curatorial guidance of NTU CCA Singapore. The artworks will premiere in an exhibition that will take place in Singapore later this year.