Talk Event: Multiple Alternatives

Date: 18:00-19:30 on 21st June, 2024
Venue: Community Salon in 3F of TAKI PLAZA, Ueno Campus, Tokyo University of the Arts
Address: 12-8 Ueno Koen, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Admission: Free (no reservation required)
Seats: 50
Guest: Pongsakorn Yananissorn (Curator / Speedy Grandma)
Moderator: Tomoya Iwata (Curator / The 5th Floor)
Organized by: The 5th Floor
Co-organized by: Global Arts, Graduate School of Tokyo University of the Arts

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We are pleased to announce that we will have the talk event by Pongsakorn Yananissorn, an independent curator who works in a variety of projects both in domestic scenes in Thailand and overseas, and Tomoya Iwata, the director of The 5th Floor who works on the research of alternative spaces mainly in Asian regions.

This talk explores the current ecosystem and position of the contemporary art scene of Thailand from the perspective of “community collectives,” based on Yananissorn’s practices of both institutional and alternative (or in-between). The talk unfolds in the latter part inviting Tomoya Iwata, whose research focuses on the dynamics of institutional and alternative art scenes which are unique to each historical and geopolitical context. They will excavate the multi-aspects of Speedy Grandma’s practice as well as discuss the potential of alternative practices through the comparison between the one in Bangkok and Tokyo. 

【Speakers’ Profile】

Pongsakorn Yananissorn
Pongsakorn Yananissorn (b.1994, Bangkok, Thailand) is an artist and independent curator working around instigating and creating different modes of living and working together through employing shared fictions, stringing forgotten pasts to unrealized futures. He curated projects such as Crypto for Cryptids, JWD Artspace, Bangkok (2021) and Talk-Talk Vilion Pavilion, Bangkok Biennial, Bangkok, (2021) and PostScripts, Bangkok Biennial, Bangkok (2018) as well as an assistant curator and educational program director for Ghost 2565 (2022) among others. He co-founded Plaza Projects, Vancouver (2016) as well as starting a new phase of Speedy Grandma Gallery, Bangkok (2020). Currently, he is a member of collectives, Charoen Contemporaries, Bangkok (2018) as well as This Useful Time Machine (2020). He is currently based in Bangkok, Thailand.

He has participated in various curatorial conferences, talks and workshops included but not limited to Curatorial Practices in Asia at Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai (2023) and Ideas Forum, Taipei Dangdai, Taipei (2024).
  Speedy Grandma
“Speedy Grandma” is named after an urban ghost legend in which a granny, died from a motorcycle accident, appears half-bodied to haunt the bike racers at night. Youthful in its spirit, Speedy Grandma appreciates and embraces those that are willing and committed to dash in and experiment with their creative practices. What Grandma seeks for is the potential, the budding ideas. Since Speedy Grandma was initially formed as an art gallery, we recognize and emphasize that art (in expanded definitions) does not and can not exist in a vacuum, isolated and insular from the surrounding dialogues. In 2020, Speedy Grandma repositions itself and aims to reach out to various disciplines not only to situate creative practices, but also to expand the definition, perception, and understanding of what art could be.

Tomoya Iwata
Tomoya Iwata (b. 1995, Aichi) completed his MA from the Graduate School of Global Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts. His research focuses on the history of curation and curators, as well as exploring the possibility / impossibility of understanding others beyond human beings through exhibition practices. Through on-site research, Iwata frequents alternative spaces in various cities mainly in Asia to further understand the dynamics between institutional and alternative art scenes in their individual context. 
Currently the representative director of The 5th Floor, the curatorial space in Tokyo.

Major exhibitions include: ANNUAL BRAKE 2022/2023 (The 5th Floor, Tokyo, 2022/2023), Things named [things] (Solo exhibition by Anais-karernin; The 5th Floor, Tokyo, 2023), la chambre cocon (Cité internationale des arts, Paris, 2023), between / of (The 5th Floor, Tokyo, 2022), eat ro ekyu (Solo exhibition by Tomohiro Kubota; EUKARYOTE, Tokyo, 2022). He has various experiences as a curatorial assistant for international exhibitions such as 2nd Thailand Biennale (Korat, 2021), and Sharjapan 3 (Sharjah, 2021).

Participated in a Curator in Residence program at Cité internationale des arts, Paris in 2023. Invited to the Ideas Forum in Taipei Dangdai 2023 as a guest speaker.