Estan Cabigas

From the series, THE NEW CATHEDRALS

If you’re in Singapore on 31 August 2011, drop by at The Salon, Level 1 at the National Museum of Singapore. Photography researcher Zhuang Wubin will be giving a lecture in line with the exhibition ABBAS: 45 Years in Photography. Below are the details:

Images of God: Photography in Southeast Asia
A public lecture organised in conjunction with Abbas, 45 Years in Photography

To register, please email your contact details to nhb_nm_lectures@nhb.gov.sg

With all the major faiths having an active presence in Southeast Asia, it is only natural that photographers in this region address the subject of religion in their works. And they do so with different approaches and motivations. A sense of discovery in relation to their personal faith informs the works of Ng Swan Ti in Catholicism in Indonesia (2000–2005) and Rahman Roslan in Halal (2008– present). Over in Thailand, Michael Shaowanasai and Manit Sriwanichpoom deconstruct the iconography of Buddhism in Portrait of a Man in Habits (2000) and Masters (2009) respectively. Kamthorn Paowattanasuk looks at the “consumption” of religion in his documentation of strange temple structures in Holly Alloy (2006– present). Estan Cabigas draws a connection between Philippine Catholicism and the rise of malling culture in The New Cathedrals (2010-present). Malaysian provocateur Liew Kung Yu responds to the erosion of Chinese culture in his photo montage Hungry Ghost Festival, Penang (1995). Finally, in Mohammed and Me (2005), Paul Kadarisman questions the media’s portrayal of Indonesia as a “dangerous” destination in the aftermath of the Bali and Jakarta bombings. In this talk, speaker Zhuang Wubin will examine the above works in greater detail.

Speaker’s Biography
Zhuang Wubin (b. 1978; Singapore) uses photography to understand the cultures and histories of the Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. His third photographic monograph Chinese Muslims in Indonesia is published by Select Books and supported by Lee Foundation. He is also a curator and researcher specialising in contemporary photographic practices in Southeast Asia. In addition, he is a correspondent curator of the Southeast Asian section of Photoquai 2011 at the Musée du quai Branly. Recent essays he wrote includes “Politics and Identity: Contemporary Photography in Thailand,” Trans Asia Photography Review, 2011 and “New Malaysian Documentary Photography,” Art Monthly Australia, May 2011.

For more info please visit www.nationalmuseum.sg