Reflexivity and reflections: MA Fine Arts Postgraduate Symposium 2022

The annual MA Fine Arts symposium is a platform for candidates from the programme to present their research practice together with a keynote speaker from the professional visual arts community. The symposium situates the centrality of research and studio practice in the development of each artist's journey. 

View symposium schedule.

About the keynote

New Forest by Robert Zhao Renhui

The lecture will discuss recent work the artist has worked on in the forest. With the ongoing climate crisis, we must relook humankind’s relationship with nature. How can one consider the natural environment in our daily life in Singapore? Through long term observations of secondary forests and daily documentations of natural phenomena in his projects, Robert has tried to document our often fraught relationship with non-human species and visualise often overlooked situations in his research. The works reconsider how art can be used to interpret and interact with ecology.

_{Image credit: Agriculture Fire, 2022.} 

About the keynote speaker:

Robert Zhao Renhui is a multidisciplinary artist and the founder of the Institute of Critical Zoologists. His artistic practice addresses the human relationship with nature. Zhao received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Photography from Camberwell College of Arts and London College of Communication respectively. His work has been exhibited in international group shows such as Busan Biennale 2020; Singapore Biennale 2019; Asia Pacific Triennial, Queensland, Australia, 2018; Jiwa: Jakarta Biennale, Indonesia, 2017; 7th Moscow Biennale, Russia, 2017; 20th Sydney Biennale, Australia 2016; Les Recontres d’Arles, France, 2015. Amongst his more recent solo exhibitions in Singapore are The Nature Museum, commissioned by Singapore International Festival of Art (SIFA) and The Bizarre Honour, realized for OH! Open House, both in 2017. Zhao has undertaken residencies at the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, France, and Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco, United States, and the Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan. He was awarded the Young Artist Award by the National Arts Council in 2010 and was a finalist of the Hugo Boss Asia Art Award 2017 and the 12th Benesse Art Prize in 2019.