What is Left of Art? The Spatio­‐Visual Practice of Political Art in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines, 1950s–1970s

Abstract

What is Left of Art? begins with a simple question about the place of art during a period of great socio-political transformation. How did artists respond to the upheaval brought about by modern political changes? Where was art located in times of moral and political crises? In my research, I take the left-leaning political art movements in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines as case studies, looking at the period from 1950s – 1970s. This thesis makes an original contribution to the critical inquiry of left-leaning political art through a comparative study that posits discursive affinity of this form of art practice across four countries that have hitherto not been considered collectively. Instead of focusing on analysing the meaning behind the works of art or simply providing a descriptive historical account of these movements, I have identified three domains of political art for productive inquiry. These are the organisation, the text and the street. While these components, and the artistic strategies explored within them, were not exclusive to Southeast Asian modern art, as demonstrated by the social art histories in many other different contexts, the specific conditions of post-war Southeast Asia produce a common historical experience. It underlines the significance of historical structure in shaping the character of politicisation of art in Southeast Asia. My thesis explores how these domains of political art could be understood as strategies explored by the cultural left to rethink received discourses and institutions of modern art in order to engender a different aesthetic paradigm centered on the commitment towards the people. Often these include re-imagining how art constituted a spatio-visual practice that shaped or intervened in modern urban spaces. The street in this sense represents a significant trope and site of engagement with a broader public. Through this reading, I hope to demonstrate the terms of artistic production through which I am able to make visible an archaeology of political and ideological pressures that shape the artistic modernities of post-war Southeast Asia.