Thank you for entering the competition, and thank you to our jurors for your hard work, Lee Ambrozy, Joseph Del Pesco, Clair Hsu, and Pauline Yao.

March 14, 2013 – March 24, 2013

CAAM presents CAAMFest (formerly the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, or SFIAAFF) every March. CAAMFest is the nation’s largest showcase for new Asian American and Asian films, annually presenting approximately 130 works in San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland. Since 1982, the festival has been an important launching point for Asian American independent filmmakers as well as a vital source for new Asian cinema.

Groups of 10 or more qualify for group discount.
General Screenings: $9.50/ticket
Opening Night: $30 for film screening only
$43 for combo tickets, screening + gala

Please contact boxoffice@caamedia.org for more information.

Art Practical, the online journal for visual arts criticism in the Bay Area, and the Asian Contemporary Arts Consortium San Francisco (ACAC-SF) announce the second round of applications for the ACAC Writing Fellowship and invite entries for its 2013-14 year this spring.

By providing a platform for emerging writers, the ACAC Writing Fellowship aims to promote and encourage critical thinking and writing on contemporary Asian art practices and discourses, with a particular emphasis on the events and exhibitions in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Bay Area visual arts community positions itself within a global context; this fellowship will encourage the recipient to examine where the intersections lie between artists of Asian descent living and working in the Bay Area, those living and working internationally, and artists of non- Asian descent living in Asia.

The winning entrant will be named the ACAC Writing Fellow and will receive a $1,000 honorarium in support of his or her contributions as a writer for Art Practical. Over the course of twelve months, the ACAC Fellow will work under the direction of the magazine’s editorial team to contribute six reviews to Art Practical, with the potential to write a feature-length article. Art Practical encourages emerging writers to refine their practice amidst those already renowned for their critical insight and provides valuable professional development through its rigorous editorial process.

ACAC Writing Fellowship Time Period
May 2013 through April 2014

Jurors
Lee Ambrozy, editor-at-large of artforum.com.cn, China
Claire Hsu, co-founder and executive director of the Asia Art Archive
Joseph del Pesco, director of the Kadist Foundation, San Francisco
Pauline Yao, Curator, M+ Museum, Hong Kong.

Eligibility
Entrants must be at least 18 years old and previously have published no more than two feature-length articles on art in any regional or national newspaper, magazine, or online publication.

Application Guidelines
Entrants must submit the following materials in PDF format via email to info@asiancontemporarysf.org with the subject line “ACAC Fellowship Application”:

1) A letter of interest stating your motivation and interest in Asian contemporary art (approximately 500 words).

2) A résumé with relevant experience, including bibliography of relevant articles.

3) Two writing samples that reflect your writing skills and knowledge of contemporary art. These should be a maximum of 500 words in length, with a preference for reviews; excerpts from longer texts will be accepted.

4) A list of two references, including names, titles, and contact information.

Please do not include additional materials other than those requested.

The application deadline is February 15, 2013. Late applications will not be considered. 

Please click here to download the pdf file of the ACAC Writing Fellowship announcement and guidelines.

Finalists
Up to five finalists will be selected and announced on March 15, 2013.

Each will be invited to write a four-hundred- word review on an exhibition of their choice relevant to contemporary Asian art; the reviews will be published in Art Practical on April 16, 2013. Finalists will work with the Art Practical editors in taking their articles from drafts to published texts.

Notification of the ACAC Fellow April 17, 2013
The ACAC Fellow will be commissioned to extend his/her 400-word Shotgun Review to a full-length review for publication in Art Practical on May 14, 2013.

For more information visit artpractical.com and asiancontemporarysf.org.

About Art Practical
Art Practical is an online magazine that enriches critical dialogue for the Bay Area visual arts by providing comprehensive analysis of events and exhibitions. Since its launch in October 2009, we have worked with a network of partners to promote the Bay Area’s role in the international art scene, to create a historical record of contemporary artistic practices, and to foster artistic production through critical writing and public programming. Art Practical is emblematic of the collective and collaborative spirit of the wide-ranging Bay Area visual arts culture, which combines a long local history of incubating experimentation and innovation with international perspectives. Our contributors create a vibrant, complex mix of cross- disciplinary practices that demonstrates a model for visual arts criticism that is highly conscious of the audience it is serving, as well as the culture it is representing.

The conversation centered on a variety of elements related to Ganesh’s practice, including the material choices, inspirations and influences from larger culture sphere, her travel experience in Japan, and the understanding of the Asian mythologies in the global culture narratives. Some key words from the topics included apocalyptic visions, science fiction writings and movies, psychedelia, manga, and technology, among others.. Ganesh also indicated that her next big project would take the form of an animated film production. 

The director of ACAC, Xiaoyu Weng, welcoming the members.

Gallery Wendi Norris director Wendi Norris, introducing Ganesh and Shiner. 

Ganesh and Shiner discussing the work.

 
Weng asking questions about the work.

 Please stay tuned for our video updates of the conversation!

Mami Kataoka speaks at the Curator’s Perspective, an itinerant public discussion series that features international curators who distill current happenings in contemporary art, including the artists they are excited by, exhibitions that have made them think, and their views on recent developments in the art world.

Kataoka has been the Chief Curator at the Mori Art Museum (MAM) in Tokyo since 2003 where she most recently curated “Lee Bul: From Me, Belongs to You Only,” while extending her curatorial practice in many international projects including 9th Gwangju Biennial (2012) in South Korea as the Joint Artistic Director and “Phantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past” (2012) at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco as guest curator.

For more information about her talk at the Curator’s Perspective, please click here.
To view Phantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past, please click here.

Artist Hiroshi Sugimoto recently expanded his work to include traditional Japanese performing arts such as bunraku, or puppet theater, through film. Most recently, Sugimoto lent his vision to the arrangement, direction, and stage design of an adaptation of famed bunraku play The Love Suicide at Sonezaki (Sonezaki Shinju), a 1703 work by Chikamatsu Monzaemon. The program begins with a screening of this monumental project, followed by a conversation between the artist and Phantoms of Asia (on view at the Asian Art Museum from May 18-September 2, 2012) guest curator Mami Kataoka.

PART 1

PART 2

PANEL 1: Building and Breaking: Considering Tradition in Contemporary Art
Featuring: Charwei Tsai, Jompet, Jagannath Panda, and moderator Glen Helfand.

PANEL 2: On Location: Time and Place
Featuring: Heman Chong, Adrian Wong, Takayuki Yamamoto, Adeela Suleman, and moderator Hou Hanru

SATURDAY, MAY 12:  A DAY OF DIALOGUE

The week began with two panel discussions at the Asian Art Museum. The first panel featured artists Charwei Tsai, Jompet, Jagannath Panda, and moderator Glen Helfand as they discussed Building and Breaking: Considering Tradition in Contemporary Art.  The second panel featured artists Heman Chong, Adrian Wong, Takayuki Yamamoto, Adeela Suleman, and moderator Hou Hanru as they addressed On Location: Time and Place, analyzing how different geopolitical, cultural, and historical experiences have influenced their work. This was a fantastic way to kick off the week and ignite the exploration into Contemporary Asian Art practice.

Day of Dialogue, Panel 1 (left to right):Charwei Tsai, Jompet, Jagannath Panda, Glen Helfand.

Day of Dialogue, Panel 2 (left to right): Takayuki Yamamoto, Heman Chong, Adeela Suleman, Adrian Wong, Hou Hanru.

Adrian Wong keeps the discussion going during the ACAW Opening Reception following the panel.

TUESDAY. MAY 15:  AN EVENING WITH HOLLAND COTTER

Tuesday evening featured one of the week’s highlights, a discussion with renowned New York Times Art Critic Holland Cotter.  Samsung Hall was a packed house as the Pulitzer Prize Winner sat down with Museum Director, Jay Xu, and Asia Society President and CEO, Vishakha Desai to discuss the practice and future of Asian Contemporary Art in the Bay Area.  Special thanks to Art Practical for partnering with ACAC-SF to make this evening possible.

(From left to right) Jay Xu, Holland Cotter, Vishakha Desai

WEDNESDAY, MAY 16:  SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS AT KADIST AND SOUTHERN EXPOSURE

From the cloudy blue drinks, to the floor cushions and fog machine, Wednesday evening at Kadist was a special experience for all who attended.  The gallery transformed into it’s very own misty cloud as the audience viewed a special presentation of the video installation The Cloud of Unknowing (2011), from Singapore native, Ho Tzu Nyen. 

Ho Tzu Nyen's The Cloud of Unknowing (2011). A special presentation at Kadist.

The fog starts to roll in at Kadist.

Just a few blocks away from Kadist, Southern Exposure was hosting its own special night of performance, Off the Wall, curated by Jeanne Gerrity.  The night featured a Ted Talk-esque presentation by Jenifer Wofford on the traditional Philipina dessert, Halu-Halu, followed by a vocal and sound performance by Mike Lai and Charming Hostess as they recreated the scene from a Kung Fu film.

Mike Lai featuring Charming Hostess.

THURSDAY, MAY 17:  OPENING NIGHTS AT artMRKT AND THE ASIAN ART MUSEUM

Thursday night was a night to party.  Before heading over to the festivities at the Asian Art Museum for Phantoms of Asia, ACAC-SF joined the crew at artMRKT San Francisco as they opened their doors for an Opening Night Event.  On view was Daddy Project, a special video installation by Beijing-based artist, Yan Xing, curated by ACAC-SF’s very own, Xiaoyu Weng.  Special thanks to artMRKT Productions for their partnership during the event.

A special presentation of Yan Xing's Daddy Project at artMRKT San Francisco.

ACAC-SF with our friends at Art Cards.

Also opening Thursday night was Phantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past at the Asian Art Museum.  The exhibition, featuring over 30 artists, is on view through September 2, 2012.

The galleries stayed open late as part of the celebration.

SATURDAY, MAY 19:  TALKS AT artMRKT 

Asian Contemporary Art Week concluded with two talks at artMRKT San Francisco.  The first featured Allison Harding, Curator at the Asian Art Museum, as she sat down with Phantoms of Asia artist, Palden Weinreb to discuss his work and how it reflects recent trends in the Asian contemporary art market.  Weinreb’s work was also on display during artMRKT as a part of a special collaboration with the Asian Art Museum.

Palden Weinreb and Allison Harding at artMRKT San Franciso.

The second talk featured consultant and Indian art expert, Cho Rao, as she discussed and analyzed the developments within the Indian contemporary art market.

Cho Rao at artMRKT San Francisco.

We hope you enjoyed the first edition of Asian Contemporary Art Week!  To see even more photos please visit our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/acacsf