Biography & selected CV of Jay Koh
E contact:
jaykoh@gmx.net
Biography & selected CV of Jay Koh
E contact:
jaykoh@gmx.net
The artist Jay Koh originates from South East Asia and since 1999 has become an EU citizen. He has in his relatively short career of 18 years in the field of art, created projects and shown his installations, videos, performances, given lectures and had his writings published, all in all in more than 40 countries, mostly in Asia and Europe. He is pursuing his doctoral studies in artistic research on collaborative and participative art practices in the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki and is currently active in Dublin directing a long term cross community project Ni Hao – Dia Duit commissioned by CityArts. For his research he is collaborating with various artist groups in Ireland such as Shifting Ground and North-55.
Jay is prolific in initiating and managing international projects, especially in intercultural work. He has initiated and established networks for artists' exchanges between Asia and Europe, including founding the network International Forum for InterMedia Art (IFIMA) in 1995, evolved from the independent space arting, which Jay set up in Cologne, Germany in 1992 and managed till 1999. Beside the activities in the space in Cologne, Bruesseler Str. 29, arting he have carried out large scale public projects such as Genopoly, 1990-92 in Bonn, Dueren and Cologne(a multi disciplinary project that speak on the effect of genetic and reproduction technology) and Auszeit der Demokratie, 1993 in Halle Kalk, Cologne that response to the rise of active facisim in Germany after the reunification. IFIMA is currently registered in Singapore and mobilizes ad-hoc affiliations of artists, writers and activists in Europe and Asia for specific projects.
Jay takes on multifacetted roles in order to negotiate with social-political structures on site and conceives of appropriate actions in response to local needs and contexts. These actions emerge from an artistic practice that includes creating art works, curating and organising exhibitions, seminars, workshops and learning programmes; community capacity-building, advocacy, writing, publishing, to other necessary activities. From 2001, Jay has been working with Malaysian artist Chu Yuan in developing models of critical engagements with publics and communities.
Additionally, Jay also lectures and writes. He has taken on short teaching assignments in MFA classes in Tempere Polytechnic, Tempere and Academy of Fine Art, Helsinki in Finland; National College of Art and Design, Dublin and Galway Media Institute of Technology, Galway, West Ireland, and conducted workshops in Singapore Art Museum, Singapore and elsewhere. His works and writings are based on the concepts of Engaged Art and Critical Art Process. His writings have been published mostly in English, as well as in Burmese, Chinese, Danish, French, Polish, and Vietnamnese.
Jay's efforts in building up a critical discourse, complemented by practice, on Engaged Art activities include his work as the co-organiser of the Collaboration, Networking and Resource Sharing - Myanmar, Beikthano Gallery, Yangon; International Symposium of Public Engaged Art, The Substation, Singapore; co-curator of the International Symposium on Critiquing Critical Art, Pananaw Ng Sining Bayan, Inc., Lopez Centre, Manila, The Philippines and the curator of the International Symposium and Project for City Transformers, Laznia Centre for Contemporary Art, Danzig, Poland, all of which took place in 2002. Comparative Contemporaries, The Substation, Singapore 2003 and PSi #10, Singapore Management University, 2004.
His wide associations and experience have earned him positions as adviser to O+I (Organisation and Imagination), London, formerly known as APG (Artist Placement Group), the Blue Sun Art Centre in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Arthub in Hong Kong; RYLLEGA gallery in Hanoi, and 1948 art space in Kuala Lumpur and as a member of the Core Committee of the IntraAsia Network. Jay's recent Artist-in-Residencies include those with IASPIS, Sweden; BizArt, Shanghai and HIAP, Helsinki.
Prior to becoming an artist, Jay studied Chemistry and Biology at the University of Cologne, and worked in a health and social interest NGO "Gesundheitsladen Koeln" in Cologne, specialising as a critic on the subject of Genetic and Reproduction Technology. He helped create a Citizen Interest Group called "BuegerInnen Beobachten Petuniaen" in Cologne (1988) which continues to be active till today.
Present Positions and Responsibilities:
Founder and Director of IFIMA - International Forum for InterMedia Art
Core member of Intra Asia Network
Advisor to Irish Chinese Culture and Sports Association, Dublin
Advisor to Blue Sun, Independent Art Centre in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Advisor to Creative World, First Contemporary Art Magazine in Mongolia
Advisor to ArtHub, an Asian art regranting foundation in Hong Kong
Advisor to Open Academy, a resource-development programme of RYLLEGA, Hanoi and The Infinity Group, Hue
Advisor to 1948 art space, Seri Kembangan, Malaysia
Past Positions and Responsibilities:
Specialist Critic for Genetic and Reproduction Technology with the Der Gesundheitsladen Koeln, Cologne, Germany (1986 – 1990)
Founding Director and manager of arting, Cologne, Germany (1992 – 1999)
Founding Director and manager of NICA, Yangon - Networking & Initiatives for Culture and the Arts (2003 – 2006)
Advisor to Organisation + Imagination ( Artist Placement Group), London, UK (1999-2005)
Advisor to The League of Khmer Artists, Phnom Penh, Cambodia (2000-2001)
Advisor to The Ayeyarwaddy Artists Assembly, Yangon, Myanmar (2001 -2002)
Curator of the curated section of the Textile Biennale 2009, Kuanas, Lithuania (2007)
Advisor and partner to FreeDIMENSIONAL network, on socially progressive artist hosting communities (2006 -2007)
Teaching Experience
Visiting lecturer and artist at:
Nanyang Academy of Fine Art and Singapore Art Museum, Singapore; Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka, Bangladesh; KUVA - Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, Department for Environmental Art, University Turku and Tempere Polytechnic Art Academy, Tempere, Finland; Fine Art Dept., University of California San Diego; NCAD, Dublin and GMIT, Galway in Ireland.
Conducting the Open Academy in Yangon and Mandalay; Hanoi and Hue; Ulaanbaatar
Selected Activities Categorised by Year
Commissioned Works and Activities in 2008
Ni Hao - Dia Duit cross community art project, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Evaluation and consultation for the public art and rural community project, X-PO, Killinaboy, Co.Clare, Republic of Ireland
Evaluation of Arts Development Programme in South Dublin County Council Arts Office commissioned by CREATE, Ireland
Provide mentorship activities for artist, Fiona Whelan who is working with Common Ground, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Conducting knowledge and resource development seminars and workshops for the art communities as part of the Open Academy programme in Hanoi and Hue in Vietnam, the art community and the Fine Art Institute in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Artist and consultant in Residence with 1948 art space and participating in the art and community project "Entry Points" in Seri Kembangan, Malaysia
Commissioned Works and Activities in 2007
Selection panel of the open call section of the Textile Biennale 07, Kuanas, Lithuania with Prof.Janis Jeffries for Visual Arts, Goldsmith London and Linara Dovydaityte, Curator of Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius
Symposium and Retreat of FreeDimensional in Breuninger Stiftung, Wasan Island, Toronto, Canada
Lecture in Barcelona, Pati Manning, Barcelona Provincial Council, “Mediating across Divides and in between Layers“ at the “Culture and Conflict Prevention” seminar commissioned by ARCADE (Awareness Raising on Culture and Development in Europe) and ACTED (Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development)
Lecture in Wolverhampton; commissioned by CADRE (Centre for Art, Design, Research and Experimentation), School of Art & Design, University of Wolverhampton, UK to present his paper “Performances in Everyday Public: Engaged Art Practice“
Speaker in the specialist panel on “Working in Public” in the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. Organised by Gray’s School of Art in the Faculty of Design and Technology of the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen
Research assignment for a cultural programme of Prince Claus Fund, The Netherland
Commissioned Works and Activities in 2006
As one of 3 lead curators chosen by Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) to assist the organizers (ASEF, Goethe Institute, Jakarta and Selasar Sunaryo Art Space, Bandung) in the selection of participants and creating the programmes for the workshops of The Multi Faceted Curator in Jakarta and Bandung in Indonesia, March 2006. 22 participating curators came from 37 countries in Asean+3 and the European Union. www.goethe.de/curator
Research trip and the Visiting Artist/Lecturer programme of University of California San Diego, Spring 2006 with artist groups in Los Angeles and Tijuana
Research presentation of Art activities in Asia at the Mexico: Gateway to the Americas, Mexico City organized by the National Council for Culture and the Arts of Mexico and ResArtis
Conducting the workshop Articulating the Art Encounter: Art Criticism and Writing Workshop in the Singapore Art Museum.
Research, seminars and collaboration with CityArts, Dublin, Ireland to set up research for a public art project and an intercultural project.
Research and collaboration with Arts Council of Mongolia to set up a resource development programme for art and culture in Ulaanbaatar
Presentation and documentation show "Public Moment" in Artist Forum International, 2006 in Seoul, and symposium for "Artist Mobility" in Gwangju Biennial, Gwangju.
Artist In Residency with Bizart, Shanghai, investigating the structures and projections of BizArt
Panel discussion in the Informal European Theatre Meeting, Helsinki
Lectures in NCAD, Dublin and GMIT, Galway in Ireland
Activities in 2005
Symposium "Art and Social Intervention: the Incidental Person" in Tate Britain, London/ UK
Performance Studies international #11, Providence, Brown University, Rhodes Island presenting a paper "Setting up an Uncomfortable Site" within the panel, Intervention.
Symposium on "Art and Knowledge-Encounter in Intercultural art projects", Helsinki Art Museum and Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki/ Finland
Public Art project "Portraying Ourselves" commissioned by Loennstroem Art Museum, Raumar/ Finland
A Presentation about IFIMA, ARTCONCEPT, St. Petersburg, Russia
Presentation in Asian Artists' Mobility, Taiwan artist village assoc. Tainan and Taipei, Taiwan
Presentation in Res Artist#10, Sharing Cultures and Social Changes, panel "Curating Differences", House of the Cultures of the World and Ufa Fabrik Berlin International Cultural Centre, Berlin, Germany
Presentation in Living Art Museum, Reykjavik and research on Icelandic art scene hosted by CIA.is(Center for Icelandic Art), Iceland
Research trip to Dublin and take part in the Art in the City - Document 17, hosted by CityArts, Dublin, Ireland
Conducting a workshop on Dialogue in art practices within the frame work of Dialogical and Engaged Art, Bildmuseet, Umea, Sweden
Activities Categorised by Type
Selected Artist/ Researcher in Residency
2006 Bizart, Shanghai, PRC China
2005 IASPIS, Sweden with the Umea City, Bild Museet, Gallery Verkligheten and Academy of Fine Art, Umea Univeristy
2005 Helsinki International AiR Programme, Helsinki and RAUMARS residency with commissioned public work with Lonnstrom Museum, Raumar, Finland
2001 The Substation, Singapore, Investigating Public Engaged Art, Singapore
2000 Forum
Stadtpark, Graz, Austria
Selected Group Exhibitions
2000 Translation, Displacement and Actualisation, Galerie 68elf, Cologne, Germany, international show and symposium, part of Heimat Kunst, a federal german culture programme organized by the House of Cultures of the World, Berlin and Art Council Cologne.
1999-2000 The Other
X/change, Beijing, China/ Cologne/ Germany
1997 100x videos, Bali Kino, Kassel Film and Video Society, Documenta X, Kassel/ Germany
1993 45th Venice Biennial, In Between, Turkey's contribution, Venice/ Italy
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2004 "M - Project", Lokanat Gallery, Yangon/ Myanmar
1994 "Stored thinking", Gallery arting, Cologne/ Germany
1992
"Interaction", Gallery Het Getal-0, Amsterdam/ Holland + Gallery arting,
Cologne/ Germany
Selected Performances
2001 Facet of Loves, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka/ Japan
1997 TransArt Communication: 9th International Multimedia Art Festival, Nove Zamky, & Samorin/ Slovakia Republic und in Mucsarnok Art Museum, Budapest, Hungary
1993 "perfect traveller", Nuyorican Poets Cafe, New York/ USA
Selected Videos
2000 Small movement in World Art, Beijing and Gaungzhou/China
1999 The End of Om, Lhasa/ Tibet , Yunan/China and Bangkok/Thailand
1996
The Red Sack, Minsk and Rowkowitschi/ Belarus
Selected Curated Public Art Projects
2002 City-Transformer, Danzig/ Poland
2001-2 M-Spaces: crossover or assimilation, Nokia-Singapore Art 01,
Great Hall@MilleniaWalk, Singapore
1996 ET - Exchanging Thoughts, ChiangMai Social Installation, open markets in ChaingMai, Thailand
1990-3 Genopoly, Bonn, Cologne and Dueren/ Germany
Selected Curated Symposiums/ Conferences
2005 Art and Knowledge, Helsinki Art Museum and Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki
2002 Public Engaged Art, The Substation, Singapore.
Symposium and Project on COLLABORATION, NETWORKING AND RESOURCE-SHARING: MYANMAR, Ayerwaddy Art Assembly, Yangon, Myanmar.
Critiquing Critical Art, Pananaw Ng
Sining Bayan, Inc., Lopez Museum, Manila, The Philippines
2005 Art appreciation and writings, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
2005 Student assessments on independent activities, Tempere Polytechnic, Finland
2002 Creative Centre, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore
2001 Seminar on Engaged Art, Laznia Centre for Contemporary Art, Danzig / Poland
Selected Lectures
2001 Public Engaged Art practice, Laznia Centre for Contemporary Art, Danzig / Poland
2000 Symposium on Cultural x/Change, Crossing Cultures: Theories and Practices on Engaged Art, Museum of Site and Shanghai Street Artspace, Hong Kong Art Development Council, Hong Kong
1998 Littoral "Critical Sites", Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art and Technology, Dublin/ Ireland
1997-8 Critical
Art Practice
in ShilpaSamannaya Art Centre, Chittagong;
Faculty of Fine Arts, Dhaka
University and Shilpakala Academy in
collaboration with Goethe Institut, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Selected Publications
2006 Locating the Mobile Artist: from Cultural Diversities to Local Specificities in Residencies: Spaces + Artists + Managers + Communities, a post event publication of UFA Fabrik, Berlin, RES ARTIS and Asia Europe Foundation
2005 Politics of the Self in the Negotiation of Soilidarities a
presentation in Locus: Interventions in Art Practice published by the National
Commission for Culture and the Arts, Manila
City Transformers 2002
Gdansk Poland,
published by Laznia Centre for Contemporary Art, Gdansk
Published in English and Polish
2004 Potholes and Corners: Intentions, Desires and Constraints of Cross and Intercultural Activities a presentation in Links, Platform and Networks, Publications of Asia Art Archive (AAA), Hong Kong and International Association of Art Critics Hong Kong (AIAC/HK), Published in Chinese, English and Vietnamese
2002 The Need for Opening up Structures for more Effective Engagement, Focas #2, Singapore, Published in English and Vietnamese
Vasan Sitthiket, son activisme et le groupe Ukabat, Inter 81, art actuel, Quebec, Canada 2002
2000 "58", commissioned essay for catalogue of Station to Station: Images of the World, Copenhagen, Danish Center for Culture and Development (DCCD), Denmark, Published in English and Danish
View selected texts/publications written after 2000
Selected Bibliography
2007 taide 2 / 07, Finnish art magazine, Jay Koh ja kuuntelemisen taide, Helsinki, 2007
2004 Grant H. Kester, Conversation Pieces: Community and Communication in Modern Art, University of California Press, 2004, USA
2003 Theory in Contemporary Art since 1985, edited by Zoya Kocur and Simon Leung, Blackwell Publishing 2003, New York/ USA
2000 KunstForum Bd 149, Kunst und Kapital: metaphorische Symbiose und politische Kritik, Juergen Raap, Cologne/ Germany