Asia Society Hong Kong Center

The Asia Society Hong Kong Center presents No Country: Contemporary Art for South and Southeast Asia, the inaugural touring exhibition of the Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative, from October 30, 2013, to February 16, 2014. Featuring 18 recent works by 13 artists from Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, No Country presents some of the most compelling and innovative voices in South and Southeast Asia today.The exhibition was first seen in New York at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (February 22– May 22, 2013) as part of the Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative, a multi-year collaboration that charts contemporary art practice in three geographic regions—South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East and North Africa—and encompasses curatorial residencies, international touring exhibitions, audience-driven education programming, and acquisitions for the Guggenheim’s permanent collection. All works have been newly acquired for the Guggenheim’s collection under the auspices of the Guggenheim UBS MAP Purchase Fund. Following its presentation in Hong Kong, the exhibition will travel to Singapore.The exhibition—the title of which was drawn from the opening line of W.B. Yeats’s “Sailing to Byzantium” (1928), which was also adopted by Cormac McCarthy for his novel No Country for Old Men (2005)—proposes an understanding of South and Southeast Asia that transcends physical and political borders. The historical narrative of South and Southeast Asia stretches from the era of its ancient kingdoms and empires to that of today’s nation-states. The region is marked by traces of colonization, division, and intervention, events and processes that are inscribed in cultural memory. South and Southeast Asia is also home to numerous influential faiths, religions, and ethical codes, including Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam.Adapted in collaboration with the Asia Society Hong Kong Center, and drawing on the central themes of cultural, historical, and political representation within the New York exhibition, the presentation in Hong Kong places added emphasis on the impact of South and Southeast Asian spiritual and moral teachings on the shaping of the region’s communities. No Country investigates the variety of contemporary artistic practice in this diverse region and demonstrates how the artists represented in the exhibition move beyond reductive representation to reflect on the manifestations and effects of belief.Artists:Aung Myint Bani Abidi Reza Afisina Khadim Ali Shilpa Gupta Vincent Leong Tayeba Begum Lipi Tuan Andrew Nguyen Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook Vandy Rattana Norberto Roldan Tang Da Wu Truong Tan.

Open:Wednesday, 30 October 2013
Close:Sunday, 16 February 2014
Address: Asia Society Hong Kong Center, 9 Justice Drive, Admiralty, Hong Kong
Mail: enquiryhk@asiasociety.org
Phone:+852 2103 9511
Web:No Country: Contemporary Art for South and Southeast Asia
Admission:HK$30 | HK$15
Photo credits:1. Tayeba Begum Lipi, Love Bed, 2012, Stainless steel, 31 1/4 x 72 3/4 x 87 inches (79.4 x 184.8 x 221 cm), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Guggenheim UBS MAP Purchase Fund 2012.153, © Tayeba Begum Lipi, Installation view: No Country: Contemporary Art for South and Southeast Asia, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, February 22–May 22, 2013. Photo: Kristopher McKay © Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; 2. Vincent Leong, Keeping Up with the Abdullahs 2, 2012, Chromogenic print and plaque in artist’s frame, 32 3/4 x 42 5/8 inches (83.2 x 108.3 cm), edition 2/8, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Guggenheim UBS MAP Purchase Fund 2012.152, © Vincent Leong, Photo: Kristopher McKay © Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; 3. Bani Abidi, This Video Is a Reenactment (from The Boy Who Got Tired of Posing), 2006 Color video, silent, 58 sec. loop, and inkjet print, 18 1/4 x 14 1/2 inches (46.4 x 36.8 cm), edition 3/5, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Guggenheim UBS MAP Purchase Fund 2012.139.2, © Bani Abidi, Pictured: detail and video still