SYMPOSIA

Talk “New Ways of Collection Building: Collecting and Preserving Contemporary Art Today”

Japanese-English simultaneous interpretation available

Contemporary art is very diverse in terms of form and medium. In recent years, new methods of collecting and preserving works have emerged that differ from conventional approaches to object-based works such as paintings and sculptures. In addition, the soaring prices of contemporary art, acquisitions budget cuts, and limited capacity at storage facilities have prompted various endeavors.

For example, a few museums may jointly purchase a single work of art. Ways to collect performances and other examples of art that are transitory in nature are under discussion and examination. Video works can be now centrally managed as data. In terms of funding also, works purchased by support organizations and individuals are being increasingly donated to museum collections. The nature of storage is diversifying, including facilities accessible to the general public, and systems that conserve and restore artworks from the collections of multiple museums.

This talk program features the founder of the Spain-based Han Nefkens Foundation, which specializes in commissioning and collecting moving image works, along with three directors of modern and contemporary art museums such as M+ in Hong Kong, Singapore Art Museum, and Mori Art Museum. These four institutions are currently collaborating on the “Moving Image Commission,” a project launched in 2021 to commission new works from artists working in Asia with its second edition to be held this year. The new works by the winning artists will be included in the collections of each of the four organizations and exhibited at these museums. Drawing on their own practices, the speakers will discuss new approaches to collecting and the potential such initiatives have.

Speakers

Han Nefkens (Founder and President, Han Nefkens Foundation)
Suhanya Raffel (Museum Director, M+)
Eugene Tan (Director, Singapore Art Museum)
Kataoka Mami (Director, Mori Art Museum)

Moderator

Kondo Kenichi（Senior Curator, Mori Art Museum)

Date & Time

17:30-19:30, Tuesday, May 23, 2023 (Doors Open: 17:00)

Organizers

Han Nefkens Foundation, Mori Art Museum

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Han Nefkens
Founder and President, Han Nefkens Foundation

Han Nefkens (b.1954, Rotterdam, the Netherlands) is a writer, art collector and patron of the arts based in Barcelona. In 2006 he established the Han Nefkens Foundation that supports emerging and mid-career video artists by financing production and providing them with an international platform.
The thread running through all Nefkens’ activities is a strong desire to share.
He says, “Giving is one of the most underrated values in society. By setting up something that I can share with others, I open myself up to the world.”
Nefkens’s personal vignettes on art, travel, and living with HIV can be found on his blog:
https://www.hannefkens.com/

Suhanya Raffel
Museum Director, M+

Suhanya Raffel was appointed Museum Director of M+ Hong Kong in 2019 after she joined as Executive Director in 2016. She leads M+ and oversees all museum activities, including acquisitions, programming, collections care, development, research, institutional collaborations, and museum operations. Raffel has led the museum’s mission, broadening its international reach and championing its deep connection with its local community.
Prior to joining M+, she was the Deputy Director and Director of Collections at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (2013-2016) Australia, and held many senior curatorial positions at Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane (1994-2013) Australia.
Raffel is the President of CIMAM, the International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art (2023-2025) and has served on the CIMAM Board for 6 years (2016 -2022). She is also a member of the Bizot Group (2021 ongoing) and a Trustee of the Geoffrey Bawa Trust and the Lunuganga Trust, Sri Lanka (1994 ongoing).

Eugene Tan
Director, Singapore Art Museum

Eugene Tan is the Director of the National Gallery Singapore and Singapore Art Museum. He received his PHD in Art History from the University of Manchester. He has curated numerous exhibitions including the inaugural Singapore Biennale in 2006 and the Singapore Pavilion at the 2005 Venice Biennale. Exhibitions he has curated at the National Gallery Singapore include; Awakenings: Art in Society in Asia 1960s-1990s (2019), Minimalism: Space, Light and Object (2018) and Reframing Modernism: Painting from Southeast Asia, Europe and Beyond (2016). He has published widely on contemporary art and lectures on Art History at the National University of Singapore.