Which “regionalism” for Southeast Asia?—Curating art in time of globalisation and neoliberalism

Abstract

This paper looks into different conceptualisations of “regionalism” in Southeast Asia as put forward by selected art exhibitions on the theme. It explores how these exhibitions engage in knowledge production constructing different versions of “regionalism” for the public. The paper asks if Iola Lenzi’scuration of Concept Context Contestation—though politically committed, based on the nation-state paradigm—is the answer for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) whose ontology pivots on transnationality. The paper, then, engages the exhibition Missing Links by Gridthiya Gaweewong to demonstrate that her taking on ‘regionalism’ drew on transnationality. However, in leftist terms, transnationality is not without a problem. Given that the AEC is primarily an economic integration and was conceived as part of the process of the globalisation of neoliberal capitalism, the paper—in favour of art activism and emancipatory politics—proposes that pressure be put on the exhibition’s advocacy of transnationality. It asks if the migrancy and circulations put forward in Missing Links merely responded to the globalisation of neoliberal capitalism as a factor of production or resisted it.