An ephemeral art form, performance art is often historicised through documentation. Ray Langenbach's archive on performance art is one such lens through which to look at the medium’s development and circulation in South East Asia. By revisiting some of the significant events and issues during his years of documentation and performing as an artist, this talk will explore how the art form is shaped in and by the region, and how it has circulated over time via reenactments, exhibitions, festivals, and scholarship. Discussants include Singapore-based artist Loo Zihan, and Nora Taylor, Alsdorf Professor of South and Southeast Asian Art, Department of Art History, Theory and Criticism, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago.

This event marks the joint effort of AAA and the International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, to re-master Ray Langenbach's private collection of video documentation (originally in DV and Hi-8 format) spanning over 20 years of performance art in Southeast Asia from 1988 to the present. Selected material from this archive will become available for research over time at AAA.

About Ray Langenbach
Originally from Boston, living and working in Kuala Lumpur and Helsinki, Langenbach ‘performs theory’, focusing on cognitive phenomena and propaganda. His video works, installations and performances have been presented around the globe. His writings have appeared in leading international journals. Until recently he served as Professor at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur. He is also a Research Fellow at the Finnish University of the Arts Helsinki, and has taken up a new role as Professor of Performance Art & Theory in the department of Live Art and Performance Studies at the Theatre Academy in the University of the Arts Helsinki. Langenbach is on the Board of Psi (Performance Studies international).

This event is part of The Ray Langenbach Archive of Performance Art