ASIAN PUBLIC INTELLECTUALS FELLOWSHIPS PROGRAM

Creative Index by the Asian Public Intellectuals Fellowships Program
May 28 - June 5, 2010

The Nippon Foundation Fellowships for Asian Public Intellectuals (API Fellowships Program) commemorates its 10th Anniversary Regional Celebration in the Philippines at the end of May 2010 with a multi-site exhibition, Creative Index, scheduled to open to the public on May 28.

Creative Index presents a range of expressions from among a group of individuals actively involved in the public realm and coming from various disciplines within the creative framework of an exhibition. The exhibition thus becomes a platform wherein greater social issues are engaged with and works as a catalogue of creative enterprise.

The works will be on exhibit at seven venues in Metro Manila: Ateneo Art Gallery, Loyola Heights,Quezon City from May 28 – June 13; Jorge B. Vargas Museum, UP Diliman, Quezon City from May 28 – June 5; UP College of Music Mini Hall, Diliman, Quezon City from May 28 – May 30, Silverlens Galleries, Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati City from May 28 – June 5, Pablo Gallery, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City from May 28 – June 9; Art Informal, Mandaluyong City from May 28 to June 7; and San Agustin Museum, Intramuros, Manila from May 28 – May 30.

Creative Index includes a diverse range of works such as sound installations, video and film documentaries, performance art, photographs, and botanical drawings. The participating API fellows are Amir bin Muhammad (Malaysia), Colin Nicholas (Malaysia), Dave Lamenta (Indonesia), Dain Iskandar Said (Malaysia), Jonas Baes (Philippines), Kidlat Tahimik (Philippines), Phuttipong Aroonpheng (Thailand), Lalita Rochanakorn (Thailand), Motohide Taguchi (Japan), Nick de Ocampo (Philippines), Shigeaki Iwai (Japan), Tomonari Nishikawa (Japan), Jess Santiago (Philippines), Kaori Fushiki (Japan), Karnt Thassanaphak (Thailand), Michi Tomioka (Japan), Mohd Naguib Razak (Malaysia), Nadiah Bamadhaj (Malaysia), Ramon Santos (Philippines), Takako Iwasawa (Japan), Tan Sooi Beng (Malaysia) and Yeoh Seng-Guan (Malaysia).

The works shown in Creative Index comes from the intermingling of influences. Anthropologists use the structure of video documentation to create easy access to their research, while artists manage fieldwork to consider anthropological matters and social relations. Forays into film digest the current social temperature.

The API Fellowships is designed to stimulate the creation of a new pool of intellectuals in SEA and Japan, encouraging a wide-range of creative and intellectual articulations from composers to artists to video productions. Fellows who practice across the region and internationally have the platform of an exhibition to present their work. This wide remit of creative output from a group of intellectuals working on research to address contemporary social concerns and problems produces a variety of production that cut across media and intellectual persuasions. As a multi-site exhibition across Metro Manila, Creative Index seeks to address the concerns of each work within our local context. The exhibition will cut across Manila, thus giving its audience a wide experience of the city, while having access to significant social questions drawn from across the region.

Creative Index is curated by Joselina Cruz. An independent curator based in Manila, Philippines. She received her MA in Curating Contemporary Art, Royal College of Art (RCA), London, UK and was Curator for the Lopez Memorial Museum in Manila, and the Singapore Art Museum. She was curator for the Singapore Biennale 2008.

Creative Index Curatorial Team: Exhibition Manager- Geraldine Araneta, Exhibiton Assistants/ Site Managers- Zaxx Abraham, Lara Acuin, and Harpy Valerio.

Creative Index opens May 28 with a private screening on May 30. For more information on Creative Index, contact Harpy Valerio at +63 916 461 3403, Zaxx Abraham at +63 917 895 7175 and Lara Acuin at +63 916 697 0220. For more information on the Asian Public Intellectuals Fellowship programme, check the website at www.api-fellowships.org or call +632 4266001 ext. 5205.

Image: Dain Iskandar Said