Listed on artnet‘s Need to Read list, Singaporean arts journalist and critic Reena Devi‘s fact-finding essay “The Fall of Art Stage” was published by regional art periodical ArtAsiaPacific (HK) in February 2019. With astute observations from industry leaders and verified information gathered over 6 months, the essay is investigative art reporting in Singapore and SEA at its nuanced best. During the talk, Reena will explore the deep-dive research and in-depth fact-finding efforts behind the essay, exposing a rarely seen approach to covering the art scene in SEA. She will also explore the context of the essay including previous pieces she wrote about Singapore’s art fair industrial complex from 2017 to 2018.

The talk will observe strict Chatham House rules. It will be completely off the record with no anonymous attribution and no recording allowed.

About the Speaker
Reena Devi is an independent Singaporean journalist and critic writing about contemporary art and society in the 21st century.
Reena holds a Msc. Renaissance to Enlightenment from the University of Edinburgh and worked as a cultural manager at the Singapore Art Museum and National Heritage Board from 2012 to 2016. She became a full-time arts reporter at TODAY newspaper (SG) in 2016, taking over from veteran reporter Mayo Martin. She fronted the shift to a news oriented coverage of the local art scene, breaking over 15 stories in the span of a year. Subsequently, she moved to Yahoo Singapore where she wrote in-depth features and broke stories on arts, lifestyle and entertainment, before leaving to write independently for international media such as ArtAsiaPacifc (HK) and Artsy (NY). She also edits and writes content about art, technology and 21st century society for exhibition catalogues, wall text, websites and social media.