Abstract:
Between ca 1921 and 1951, foremost artists from Southeast Asia were active at the art school of the Viśva-Bharati University in Śāntiniketan in West Bengal. Founded by the Indian Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, it was the hub of intellectuals and artists from all over the world. They were Sutan Harahap, Rusli, Affandi and his daughter Kartika from Indonesia, Fua Haribhitak from Thailand and Bagyi Aung Soe from Myanmar. Harahap was the first and Aung Soe was the last in the year that the University was taken over by the Indian government. Of Affandi, Haribhitak and Aung Soe whose stature in their respective countries remains unparalleled, the latter two recognised the impact of their studies there as far-reaching. While these artists’ use of expressive brushstrokes, geometrically fragmented forms and non-descriptive colours may appear to be no more than derivative of Western modernism, an appraisal of Śāntiniketan’s anti-imperialist credo and the art school’s pedagogical program suggests otherwise. Tagore’s speeches and writings on the autonomy of thought and action only corroborate the complex aspirations underlying these artists’ practice. By juxtaposing the lenses of an art history conditioned by Euramerican tastes with the teachings to which the six artists were exposed at Śāntiniketan, and tracing their careers via lost mural paintings, prints and illustrations in magazines, original works in private and public collections as well as published and unpublished writings, Six Southeast Asian Artists & Śāntiniketan, ca 1921–51 proposes a reflection on a parallel approach to seeing and thinking about modern art in Southeast Asia through bearings that reside in thought systems closer to home.
Short bio:
Yin KER's research interests include “art” and “art history” as variable constructs, ancient and modern methods of knowledge- and image-making, "art" and matrices of power and authority, and ways of telling (hi)stories of "art". In parallel with theoretical research within and beyond the discipline of art history, she explores image-making through drawing and painting. She teaches, curates and has been exploring the potential of digital art historical methods through AungSoeillustrations.org, an open-access online database of illustrations by Bagyi Aung Soe (1923–90, Myanmar).
