Project Glocal is a project that aims to locate what Harvey calls cracks and fissures of contemporary fragmented glocal cities. It is a cross cultural multi locale project that is focused on asking questions rather than presenting answers – Is there glocal in the arts? What is glocal? How glocal are we? When global is as imagined as local, could glocal community be real? A line of questioning that is founded on the premises that: first, local and global as communities are imagined (ref. Anderson, 1983); second, that geographical boundaries and cultural boundaries are blurred through filters of cosmopolitanization of cities (NB: “not all cities are cosmopolitan”, ref. Flores lecture, 2009); and third, similarities, intersections and pseudo-homogeneity of cityscapes may be recorded and be used as indices of lived lives.
To articulate these questions, Project Glocal artists will work with themes that are commonly associated with the ‘discourse of city.’ The first theme is that of Central Business District, broadly defined as space, place or idea where we work or make things work. The second theme is Hang-out. Not just the place of rest and relaxation; it is expanded to the space, place, idea or occasion where we ‘let our hair down’ or where we show off. The third theme is Traffic which covers any act or intent of mobility, our concept of space when we are mobile or how the city moves around us. The forth theme is Home. Like Hang-out it is not just a place, it is the concept, feeling or occasion where ‘we hang our umbrellas and walk barefoot.’ It is where we are most vulnerable because we feel the safest, entitled or enlightened. The last theme, Side Street, is focused on the idea of secrets. These are things, conditions, beliefs that we don’t or fail to show because we don’t realize or rather not acknowledge.
More than an exhibit, it should be reiterated that this is a conversation about city life in Bangkok, Manila, Singapore and HongKong. The audience and the artists are encouraged to debate, argue, and reflect on the existence or absence of glocal as a social construct. The emphasis is on working together, in building relationships, in answering and posting more questions between people from different but related creative and social contexts.
Artists:
Anton del Castillo/ Black Baroque Committee/ Bundith Phunsombatlert/ Choon Lin Joo/ Esther Yip Lai Man/ Francis Yu/ Irma Lacorte/ Jaffa Lam/ Urich Lau/ Jason Wee/ Jittagarn Kaewtinkoy/ Kwok Hin Tang/ Ling Nah Tang/ Lukas Tam Wai Ping/ Luke Ching/ Mark Salvatus/ Michael Lee/ Mideo Cruz/ Mimi Tecson/ Preeyachanok Ketsuwan/ Riel Hilario/ Ruthairat Kumsrichan/ Siu-Kee Ho/SongMing Ang/ Thosapol Boriboon/Vichaya Mukdamanee/ Wantanee Siripattananuntaku/ Warawut Tourawong/ Wesley Valenzuela
