1993 APT1 Conference : Identity, tradition and change

8 on state. For instance, they cry for recognition from the National Museum, they advocate for their works to be purchased and situated in the National Museum, in fact, Da Wu has an extremely interesting strategy whereby he has worked out a position trying to remove the contradiction between the two situations and the two relations. Secondly, the pursuit of these kinds of alternative practices are not routed in the kinds of overt radicalism which one may expect to find. Neither are they routed in theoretical polemics as being separate from the practice. On the contrary all of these artists - this might be very difficult for those who have been trained in critical practices, historical practices or theoretical modes in which these are seen as being not only as separate, but at times at logger heads with one another. You might like to take this up in the critics panel, although I’m not in it. Well, I just want to conclude, may I, with a few provisional statements. The sketch that I’ve given you in no way exhausts all artistic practices in Singapore. By and large the majority of artists do go on to paint pictures which are recognisably pictures, go on to make sculptures on pedestals which are recognisably objects on pedestals. What I tried to do is provide certain circumstances both intellectual, social and political from which works and ambitions, as exemplified by Chandra and Vincent, could be situated and therefore appreciated. Thank you very much. CASUAL\ARTGALL.TP1 24 May 1994