National Library has announced this set of talks, for curators, writers and artists, to explore the library as "a critical platform for scholarly, professional and private research". In art, research is seen as an integral part of "the production of artworks [and] the conceptualisation of exhibitions or publications"

The talks are held on three consecutive Saturday afternoons, from 1 to 3pm, starting July 23rd.

For more info, see the NLB website.

AICA is a global NGO dedicated to arts criticism and freedom of expression. At our AGM last weekend, the Singapore chapter of AICA supported the recent statements issued by the international secretariat of AICA on behalf of its members around the world. Among them:

• AICA Calls for the Immediate Release of Artist Ai Wei Wei
• Art Dubai 2011 - Protest against the censuring of Mounir Fatmi’s installation
• Protest against the dismissal of Jack Persekian

The Singapore Section of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA SG) & the Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore (ICAS) are holding a forum on the Singapore Biennale this Sunday, 8 May, from 3.30pm to 6pm at ICAS Gallery 1, LaSalle College of the Arts

Participants will include members of AICA SG, as well as invited guests:

Lee Weng Choy, Ray Langenbach, Tony Godfrey, Eva McGovern, Charles Merewether, Rubén de la Nuez, Sharaad Kuttan, Kean Wong, Carmen Nge, June Yap, Lucy Davis, David Teh, Danne Ojeda and others.

When we speak of the contemporary, do we speak of an age of parody, of irony, of globalization (or glocalization), of an ever-expanding modernity or a fractured coalescence of all of these conceptual frames, and many others? Do terms like the avant garde, postcolonialism, and postmodernism, continue to possess critical currency? Is it possible to even designate a work of literature or art as contemporary? In addition to signifying the present, the contemporary is also arguably a loose conceptual term rather than a critical frame, a nominal gesture towards naming an immensity of voices and images.

This conference held June 24-26th at NTU will consider these issues... Please send in your paper proposals now...

Creating annual awards for exhibitions

Hosting the AICA global conference in Singapore

Creating a series of awards for art books and art writing

Contemporary Visual Art + Culture Broadsheet is published by the Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia and edited by Alan Cruickshank, well-known to many AICA.SG members. The December 2010 issue features some fascinating pieces, including

• a discussion on contemporaneity in Indonesian art, from Tony Godfrey (London member relocating to Singapore) & Jim Supangkat
• Kevin Chua on Singapore artist Donna Ong
• A playful piece by Ray Lagenbach that subtitles Apichatpong Weerasethakul's thirdworld

Next annual meeting is at Substation, Classroom 2, on Monday, December 20, 2010. Please do attend if possible. Those of you who have not brought your bibliographies, please bring them along.

For conference-goers, the best part of the event is often the time when people meet informally and network. However, since most conferences are dominated by formal presentations, networking doesn’t take place till it’s time for lunch and tea breaks. The SAS Unconference reverses this hierarchy—using the format of speed-dating, conference participants ‘present’ themselves and their opinions to audiences on a one-to-one basis.

Hi all, I've just launched www.publicart.sg. It's aimed at informing and energizing public discourse on public art in Singapore, even if very informally. The site takes my old database of public art (from www.nusantara.com/pasta) and adds more community functionalities, including comments, voting, Facebook integration, Google Map integration and the like. Do have a look when you get a chance.