Asia Art Archive announces an Open Call for artist-educators based in Asia, as part of a project to develop creative exercises for their communities of learners. Participants will draw inspiration from AAA’s collections, which are freely accessible online, and contain a wide range of materials on recent art histories of the region. Artist-educators are invited to work with the AAA team to create exercises designed for their group of learners, and to make meaningful connections between historical contexts, artistic practices, and current needs in education.

Working together as a cohort for six months, this programme will create a small peer network of six-to-eight artist-educators from the region. In a hybrid model, artist-educators gather online with AAA, but generate ideas individually and carry out exercises onsite with their group of learners. Through this programme, we hope to create tools for students and teachers to engage with art archives and resources for creative and inquiry-based learning.

We are interested in building dialogue around the specific urgencies of the artist-educators in the programme and supporting each other despite the physical distance, based on different teaching and learning needs. 

The intention of this programme is to enable cross-cultural referencing between the multiple contexts and histories of the region, where, for instance, a teacher from Sri Lanka can connect to an archival photograph from Hong Kong, a student in Singapore can relate to a document on craft from Pakistan, and a module on gender and art in Nepal can reference a women-led biennale in Thailand.

To apply, artist-educators are invited to share an initial idea for an artist exercise around a theme they are interested in investigating for their community of learners. Prior to sharing their idea in the form that can be downloaded below, applicants are encouraged to explore AAA’s online collections, and consider the possibility of referencing art historical materials and research from across Asia as part of their exercises. Later on, we will provide support in exploring connections with our collections more deeply based on the interests of the selected participants.

The selected group of artist-educators will receive an honorarium of HK$10,000, and a budget to test their exercise with their group of learners onsite or online. At the end of the programme, we will feature the new exercises on AAA’s website as part of our Educator’s Resources so that they will be accessible for teachers and learners in the long run.

About AAA

With one of the most valuable growing collections of material on the recent history of art from Asia, freely available from our website and onsite library in Hong Kong, AAA builds tools and communities to collectively expand knowledge and learning through research, residencies, and educational programmes. Asia Art Archive’s collections, as well as extended areas of interest in programmes and research, emphasise art as an entry point to enrich and expand our understanding of the world. Through art, we are able to encounter unfamiliar visual vocabularies, and learn about multiple histories and contexts.

AAA’s Content Priorities

AAA drives the composition of its collections with key areas of concern called “content priorities,” which include examining sites where art history has been written in Asia through the lens of art writing, exhibition-making, and pedagogy; looking at ideas that connect people across national borders; considering tradition and contemporary expression in parallel; investigating ephemeral practices such as performance art; and addressing gaps in art history and in the organisation’s collection such as the underrepresentation of gender diversity.

Participants are invited to respond to the online collections, as well as thematically to these content priorities.

AAA’s Learning & Participation Programme

Established in 2009, AAA’s Learning & Participation has been shaping art and education in Hong Kong by offering programmes and online resources for teachers’ professional development. It strives to address the regional lack of contemporary art materials in education, and has been working closely with teachers and artists to explore the role of art and the possibilities it enables in twenty-first century education.

In 2020, in response to the pandemic, we launched a series of Artist Exercises—the first batch themed “Learning at Home,” which invited local and international artists to design a range of educational activities students can carry out at home during school suspension. This open call furthers our experience with this series by collaborating with artist-educators to find connections between their work in their specific contexts, and resources on modern and contemporary art from Asia.

Selection Criteria

This Open Call is open to both early career as well as experienced artist-educators. It is also open for collectives who are involved with art education and pedagogy, where it will be considered as one application. The selection of proposals will be based on the urgency and relevance of the exercise for the community of learners, and its potential to be applied to teachers and learners in varied geographical contexts. This cohort will be composed with the intention of representing diverse regions.

Application Guidelines

To apply, please do the following:

  1. Download this form and fill out the questions.
  2. Create a word document/PDF between 3-5 pages with images and captions of some of your artist-educator workshops and experiences

Please email the documents specified above to programmes@aaa.org.hk by Monday, 20 Dec 2021. Please list your name (last name, first name) and location in the subject line of the email. We will respond to applicants by Fri, 14 January 2022.


In order to enable you to access our online resources, we have created a video guide below. Please write to us if you are having any trouble navigating the collections on programmes@aaa.org.hk

Using the Asia Art Archive Collections | English

This is part of the AAA Learning and Participation Programme, supported by the S. H. Ho Foundation Limited and C. K. and Kay Ho Foundation.

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