Latiff Mohidin, Floating Form, 1970. Oil on canvas, 68 x 85cm.
Collection of NUS Museum, National University of Singapore

Online: 27–28 October 2025

Writing in 1903, the Javanese writer Kartini (1879–1904) described a “little village behind the hill where the great family of artists lives,” in which could be heard “the merry sounds of hammers and the ringing of metal… it is the welcome greeting of the woodworkers.” 

With a similar spirit of curiosity and attention to communities of creative and critical practice, this postgraduate symposium will be held online on 27 and 28 October 2025, starting each day at 4pm Singapore time (6pm Melbourne time) and ending each day at 9pm Singapore time (11pm Melbourne time). Presenters are currently enrolled postgraduate (Masters or Doctoral) students, or those who have graduated from a postgraduate degree after 1 July 2024. 

The symposium is co-convened by Roger Nelson (Art History, School of Humanities, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) and Simon Soon (Art History and Curatorship, School of Culture and Communications, University of Melbourne).

The symposium is presented by the School of Humanities at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The symposium is presented in collaboration with the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne, and Southeast of Now: Directions in Contemporary and Modern Art in Asia.