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S.E.A. Focus 2025 seeks to trace Southeast Asian art history

Titled “Disconnected Contemporaries”, this year’s theme sets out to present various Southeast Asian artworks from different periods in modern history. The exhibition runs from Jan. 18 to 26. 

Radhiyya Indra (The Jakarta Post)
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Singapore
Mon, January 20, 2025

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S.E.A. Focus 2025 seeks to trace Southeast Asian art history Colliding histories: Meat-like paper paintings by established Singaporean painter Wong Keen are displayed among other works by Southeast Asian artists in the Singapore-based contemporary art showcase S.E.A. Focus, which runs from Jan. 18 to 26, 2025. (S.E.A. Focus/Darren Soh)

H

ailed for always championing the Southeast Asian scene, Singapore’s art showcase S.E.A. Focus returns for its seventh edition this January, this time seeking to dive more deeply into the region’s rich art history, going beyond the contemporary.

S.E.A. Focus is one of the main highlights of Singapore Art Week (SAW), which draws thousands of eager art enthusiasts annually. The exhibition is on display from Saturday until Jan. 26, at the Tanjong Pagar Distripark in Singapore.   

This year, S.E.A Focus not only aims to present its usual plethora of contemporary arts from Southeast Asian countries, but also pokes into its history and challenges its long-established definitions of what is considered “modern” or “contemporary”.

“Last year, we looked very closely at technology and [how it] impacts the creation of art, especially in Southeast Asia,” the showcase’s curator John Tung told The Jakarta Post recently, noting the significance of artificial intelligence (AI) in the art scene last year.

“But this year, I decided to take a more historical approach to thinking about the organization of the [arts] itself,” he added.

Titled “Disconnected Contemporaries”, this year’s theme sets out to present various Southeast Asian artworks from different periods in modern history, and consider whether their stylistic categorizations might overlap or get boxed in by the audience’s bias, preventing the artworks themselves from conversing with each other.

S.E.A. Focus 2025 features at least 200 works of around 40 artists from eight Southeast Asian countries, showing the region’s art evolution as the world became more connected, influences collided and countries experienced historical events.

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