Tanoto Art Foundation (TAF) Symposium: Soul Song of a New Organisation
Tuesday, 14 January 2025 Time: 9am – 5.30pm
School of the Arts (SOTA), Studio Theatre Level 3
1 Zubir Said Drive
Singapore
227968
Admission: Registration to open in December 2024.
The Tanoto Art Foundation (TAF) is set to launch during Singapore Art Week with the inaugural edition of the TAF Symposium taking place on 14 January 2025.
TAF is a Singapore-based not-for-profit foundation dedicated to nurturing dialogues around
the experience of contemporary art in Southeast Asia. TAF Trustee, Belinda Tanoto, commented: “We established TAF with an aim of engaging people to the art of our time. One of the first private art foundations in Singapore, we look forward to TAF serving as the heartbeat of Southeast Asia, and the bridge that connects cultures and communities and builds unexplored connections. It is our hope that TAF’s programmes and initiatives can help to deepen the appreciation and engagement with art, and create a space where artists, audiences and diverse voices can come together.”
Photo credit Lane Lang
Marking its debut with a one-day symposium titled: “Soul Song of a New Organisation” on 14
January 2025, TAF will be bringing together leading international artists, art historians, curators,
and institution builders, to collectively reflect on ideas of creativity, identity, and authenticity, and
explore what it means to create and nurture an “organisation with a soul.”
The Symposium will feature a keynote by scholar and art historian Joan Kee, Director and
Professor of Fine Arts at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, performances by artists
Melati Suryodarmo and Chang Yuchen, and international speakers including Joselina Cruz,
Director and Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD), De La Salle-
College of Saint Benilde, Manila, interdisciplinary artist Gala Porras-Kim, Brazilian curator and
institution director Paulo Miyada, Manuela Moscoso, Executive and Artistic Director of CARA,
Center for Art Research and Alliances in New York, and Thai artist Arin Rungjang.
Credit © Evgeny Litvinov
TAF Artistic Director, Weng Xiaoyu, said: “Inspired by poet, writer, and feminist Jessica Horn, we
believe that organisations are living beings — they are physical, emotional and spiritual. The soul
of an organisation is the deepest part of its authentic self that manifests through its values and
culture. It is each organisation’s soul that keeps its rhythm going, energising and inspiring growth.
Through the minds and works gathered at this event, we have some of our first opportunities to
nurture TAF’s soul by expanding our imagination on how to create an organisation, from
challenges to out-of-the-box ideas, and new ways of collaborations. I am immensely excited to be
part of this journey and to spend more time in this part of the world!”
With exhibitions and programming in the pipeline, TAF aims to engage, educate, and embrace a
wide array of narratives, while empowering artists to share their stories with the world. From its
base in Southeast Asia, TAF aspires to be a resource for contemporary art knowledge and
discourse, and a reference point for future South-to-South exchanges.
Tanoto Art Foundation Symposium: Soul Song of a New Organisation opens on Tuesday, 14 January 2025 Time: 9am – 5.30pm School of the Arts (SOTA)
©2024 Tanoto Art Foundation (TAF)
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