When Patronage Becomes Form: Who is the ‘Southeast Asian Collector’?

The recording of this talk has been uploaded online for viewing. 

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Is collecting a global practice with similar characteristics? Or is it more nuanced than that?

This roundtable discussion focuses on collecting as an expanded practice, exploring the idea of what it means to be a Southeast Asian art collector and what a Southeast Asian art collection conveys not only in terms of artistic practice and art history, but how collectors—whether individuals or collecting institutions—position themselves within both fields.

Curated by Stephanie Bailey, Conversations Curator for Art Basel Hong Kong

Speakers

Reuben Keehan, Curator, QAGOMA

Reuben Keehan is Curator, Contemporary Asian Art at Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, where he has been a lead curator of the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT) for four editions from 2012 to 2021. With a long history in the public, non-profit and artist-driven art sectors, he was previously Curator at Artspace, Sydney (2006–11) and editor of its journal Column (2008–11), having held curatorial roles at the Museum of Contemporary, Sydney, and the Australian Centre for Photography. He is currently curator of grrrraaanularrrrrrr by Genevieve Chua at Singapore Tyler Print Institute.

Horikawa Lisa, Director, Collections and Curatorial, National Gallery Singapore

Horikawa Lisa is Senior Curator and Director (Curatorial & Collections) at the National Gallery Singapore, overseeing the strategic development of collections including artworks and archives. She was a lead-curator of Between Declarations and Dreams: Art of Southeast Asia since the 19th Century (2015), (Re)Collect: The Making of Our Art Collection (2018) and co-curated Reframing Modernism: Painting from Southeast Asia, Europe and Beyond (2016). Prior to joining the Gallery, she was curator at Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Japan from 2003 to 2012.

Nathaniel Gunawan, Private Collector and Art Patron

Nathaniel P Gunawan is the Director of Oasis Waters International, a leading consumer goods company which is a national manufacturer and distributor of ready-to-drink water in Indonesia.

He has a background in private investments, starting his career at Morgan Stanley and then in a family office. He is also the Co-Founder of Director of Phoenix Films, a content investment company focusing on production and distribution of Singapore and Indonesian films.

He graduated from Harvard University (BA, 2007; MA, 2010).

Moderator

Margaret Wang, Private Collector and Art Patron

Margaret M Wang is the Executive Director and Head of Bridgewater Associates Singapore. She has served as the Chief Representative for the Beijing Office and helped launch Bridgewater’s fund in Shanghai. Her career spans finance, tech, and non-profit with a focus on business strategy and new market development.

An avid supporter of the arts, Margaret is a Board Member of Creative Time, a New York-based non-profit focused on innovative, site-specific, socially engaged public works. She also serves as a Council Member for Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture and a Founding Co-Chair of the Friends of the Carpenter Center at Harvard University. Margaret holds an AB in Economics and History of Art and Architecture from Harvard College and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.