(PAST/ARCHIVE) Film Assemblage 1 - The Liberation War Museum

 Other Asias Film Assemblage 1

Itinerary…

Documentary: Encounters - The Meeting of Asia and Europe 1500-1800

This documentary was produced for the V&A landmark exhibition Encounters in 2004. It explores the Western fascination for exoticism and the Orientialist fantasies imagined of faraway cultures that has striking parallels with the current commercial booms of Eastern contemporary art economies and present International relations. The film considers the religious and diplomatic dimensions of colonialism through a legacy of artworks, presented by William Dalrymple and the exhibition curators Amin Jaffer and Anna Jackson. (Duratiion 21 min)

British Colonial Propoganda - BFI Archive: District Officer (Bengal)

This film documents the work of a Bengali District Officer forming part of the British colonial administration in 1945.  In a manner resembling hundreds of contemporary documentaries of life in the UK, it combines fictional and documentary elements. Neither politically correct  by todays standards, nor irredeemably racist, the film simply takes Britain’s imperial role for granted and contains little to suggest that India was almost on the verge of Independence. (Duration: 12 min)

Dillibazar II – Roberto Bortolotti

Shot during a tourist excursion to Nepal this year from the same batch of footage of Dillibazar I that featured in the exhibition Current 1.  The film shows everyday traffic and pedestrians in Katmandu at the time of the Maoist revolutionary transformation of the country – formally resembling the cinema of Abbas Kiarostami. (Duration 4 min) (Contact: robbiebthree@googlemail.com)

Birdie and Birdaa – Fatima Hussain and Sabahat Nawaz

A delightful short film by Fatima Hussain, shot in her usual pencil drawing style. Hussain’s video installation Situtopia and The Other Place featured in the Current 1 exhibition.

Sabahat Nawaz was recently selected for ENTER08 currently exhibiting at Watermans arts Centre for outstanding digital media art and design by South Asian graduates.  Both artists  have returned to their hometown Lahore, Pakistan. (Contact: www.fatima-hussain.net).  (Duration: 5 min)

Palestine Filmmakers Collective – Selected Films 2006

A mosaic of 13 short films less than 3 minutes in length, reflecting in one shot, the mood of summer 2006 in Palestine. Initial shown as part of the Palestine Film Festival 2006 at the Barbican organised by SOAS Palestine society (Duration: 35 minutes) (Contact: pal.summer2006@gmail.com)

Mongrel Station -  Jihoi Lee

Mongrel Station is an architectural video work that ruminates around an old building with a sense of suspense. Classic and quasi promotional shots of a landmark historic building - an old train station situated in the heart of Seoul - take the viewer into various rooms, showing the site's Imperial architecture during the Japanese colonization in Korea, and yet superposed actual inhabitation within and around. In a style resembling the architectural art films of Graham Ellard/ Stephen Johnstone and Ernie Gehr. Jihoi Lee & & Na'ama Yuria – SUPERFISHES A special collaboration with Israeli artist Na’ama Yuria (Duration: 9 min) (Contact: jihoinim@msn.com)

Journalism: Vietnam: The Quiet Mutiny – John Pilger

An investigative report from the frontline of the Vietnam War shot for British TV in 1970 by the award-winning veteran journalist. Pilger made this film as The Daily Mirror’s special correspondent to investigate the attitudes of American soldiers to the war in which they are involved. Curator Julian Stallabrass recently curated an exhibition called Iraq through the Lens of Vietnam for the Brighton Photography Biennale 2008 to capture parallels between the crisis of Western Imperialism, then and now. (Duration: 26 min)

Playout : De Muri Hole, Alice Universe – Helena Wee

A digital animation/ video installation by Chinese diaspora artist  and web designer Helena Wee. Played on loop. Helena Wee relational game artwork Techton Colony Flatpack – resembling a board game with block pieces - was one of the most popular pieces of the Current 1 – In Formation Exhibition. (Contact: www.sugarsnapper.com )

Further Interest…

Art Asia Pacific - www.aapmag.com/

An excellent magazine surveying current trends in visual culture across Asia, widely available in Art gallery bookshops

Bidoun Magazine - www.bidoun.com

Excellent magazine with special focus on contemporary art & culture from the Middle-East, widely available from Art gallery bookshops.

• The Art of Santiketan. (25^th Nov – 5^th Dec) A survey exhibition of Tagore’s legendary art school that produced Satyajit Ray, Amartya Sen and other Bengali luminaries. All events are free, no booking required. Details: www.nehrucentre.org.uk

TrAIN Open Lecture - Mami Kataoka. Fragments of our time; New Japanese Contemporary Art. Tuesday 2nd December – Lecture Theatre Chelsea College of Arts and Design – 5.15-7.00pm - Globalisation and multiculturalism since the 1990s have created an unprecedented interest in contemporary Japanese art in the international world. This lecture will illustrate the current trend of contemporary Japanese art since 2000 and discuss relevant social historical and generational issues