The creation of meanings around NICA would be used as the case study for the 2nd talk in the 3-talks series referencing ALPP (Art-Led Participative Processes). The first talk* discusses participation through the lens of dialogue and ingrained subjectivity that inform our perception and guide in the social interactions with non-specific others through various social stages. This 2nd talk looks into activities that led to the formation of NICA (Networking + Initiatives in the Culture & the Arts ) in Yangon — from the first act in 1996 to the establishment of the NICA space in Yangon. It also discusses the evolving approaches in terms of activities and programmes — from the start of NICA programmes in 2003 to the activities that took place after the closure of the space in 2007. It references the interactions of the participants and collaborators within performances of the everyday and its encounters. These interactions are scrutinised through the lens of ‘active and passive nihilism’ (Nietzsche) — that is present in the local values, narratives and exchanges of the actors.

* Which took place in various organisations and institutions, such as USM-Penang, Bangkok University, UNESCO-NIE Centre for Arts Research in Education (CARE), Brack and Post-Museum – Singapore and Glasgow Sculpture Studio.

About Speaker:
Jay Koh (Doctor of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki) is an artist-curator, trained in cross-disciplinary artistic research and active as an independent consultant and evaluator. Under iFIMA (international-Forum-for-InterMedia-Arts), Jay initiated public participative art projects and site-specific residencies across Europe and Asia. These included the management of the independent art space NICA (Networking-and-Initiatives-for-Culture-and-the-Arts) in Yangon from 2003 to 2007 and the resources-development programmes, Open Academy, in Hanoi, Hue, Yangon and Ulaanbaator, with Malaysian artist Chu Yuan. His engagements included speaking on Public Arts in the Scottish Parliament, in Barcelona with ACADE (Awareness-Raising-on-Culture-and-Development-in-Europe) and ACTED (Agency-for-Technical-Cooperation-and-Development), 2007 and OpenHere, Science Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin, 2012.

[Part of Survey: Space, Sharing, Haunting, curated by Post-Museum]

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