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Art isn't just about what hangs on the walls; it's about what we see (or think we see) when we look at it. It’s a reflection of our culture and lived experiences, biases—those little whispers in the back of our minds that shape how we interpret the world, whether we're aware of them or not. There's this tension between viewing art as it is—letting the brushstrokes and the canvas do the talking—and letting our own stories fill in the blanks. It’s passive versus active; it’s an art critic’s eternal dilemma.
Now, when we turn our gaze to Southeast Asian art, there's a pattern: it’s often boxed into the “oriental,” “exotic,” and “village-life” categories as if that’s all there is to say. Enter GOFY, throwing a much-needed curveball at an audience that’s been spoon-fed Western art tropes for far too long.
Tiffany Soh and Anna Du Toit, the minds behind this culturally-led art programming, are redefining the rules of the game. In this dialogue, we get into how they view art, how they critique (and whether we even should), and how they navigate those pesky biases. We dig into For Arts’ Sake—what it’s like to curate, and communicate with regional artists, and some of the surprises that came their way.
Here are Tiff & Anna, engaging in culture in dialogue through art.
Your hot take about art in the region is...
Anna: Regional art often boxes itself in and can be overshadowed by past works, either by well-known local artists or those from overseas, which can make authenticity feel lost. Southeast Asian art festivals tend to present narratives that are easy for Western or non-regional audiences to digest. That said, my view is limited.
Another hot take, not meant as a generalisation, is that some regional artists seem to confine themselves to a cultural framework that foreign audiences expect from them. This can sometimes steer them away from their usual creative process. To be clear, even though their body of work might include a range of themes, it's often only recognized for a few standout pieces that repeat certain motifs, which ultimately can limit their practice. (This kiindaaaa touches on Orientalism but this is just a personal opinion of mine la I can yap abt this for a while).
Tiff: That artists should charge more for their work! There is a certain price range that has come to be seen as the norm at art markets in particular, and while we strongly believe in affordability in art, there needs to be a mindset switch where consumers should appreciate the value of an artwork and everything that goes into the production of it behind-the-scenes, beyond just the physical item that they’re taking home.
How do you look at art?
Tiff: To me, art in any medium is a form of communication and a tool for empathy. Art enables the creator to bring people into their world, and even the seemingly simplest of pieces allow us to gain insight into another person’s worldview and experience beyond cultures, borders, and languages. Personally, I tend to look at visual art by starting from my gut feeling—how does a work instinctively make me feel? There have been so many instances where I can’t stop staring at a piece, or I can’t help myself returning to it, and only hours later would I realise why. That, to me, is the best raw emotional reaction that I can ever receive from looking at art.
Anna: I see art in many things around me these days. As I grow older, I’ve started appreciating the ingenuity of people in adding personal touches to their surroundings—gardens, homes, food, and, of course, traditional forms of tangible art. I view it as a personal practice to find meaning in what others have created. I suppose art is also an exercise in learning and unlearning the world around you. It presents things outside of what a boxed-world-obsessed-with-labels would normally tell you if you choose to see it in those ways.
How do you critique? Should you?
Tiff: Art is so subjective, and I feel like everyone should be allowed to develop their own relationship with a piece of art, whether it’s positive or negative. I believe that, at the end of the day, art shouldn’t be taken so seriously! We are all just human beings on this planet trying our best to get through this existence. That is not to say that I don’t critique art, but I always try my best to do it while holding appreciation for the time, effort, and emotional investment that the artist put into its creation, particularly when the work is a reflection of the artist’s identity and lived experience.
Anna: Critiquing is definitely necessary, but it depends on the artwork. Sometimes, I’ll spend hours analysing a piece, either in my head or with a friend; other times, I don’t feel the need, or I find the piece doesn’t invite critique at all. Hotel art, for example, is hella liminal; I can’t begin talking about it even if I wanted to. Generally, though, I tend to critique art that tries too hard to explain itself. That’s not to say I think art should be entirely mysterious; rather, it should trust its own power without relying too much on others’ interpretations, which can sometimes warp it, often to its detriment.
How do you work around biases or preconceived notions?
Anna: If you mean my own biases, then I don’t really try to work around them; I let them exist. The power of art lies in its evolving meaning over time. It becomes a small journal of how I felt and thought during a specific period of time. I also appreciate collaborations within art, especially with artists from different disciplines. It helps in rethinking how art can exist, and be formed.
Tiff: It’s always easy to be biased towards things that we understand within the safety and comfort of our lived experiences. Stepping outside of that can be challenging for some people, so accessibility is very important for me with GOFY (more on that later). For us, art is a medium to tell Southeast Asian stories that some might not otherwise be exposed to (either through a lack of effort, research, or simply a knowledge gap) to allow those curious to take the first step toward learning more. If I enable just one person to look at Southeast Asian art in a new light, then my job for the day is done (I wish, hahaha!).
Let’s talk about For Arts’ Sake. What is your curatorial approach?
Tiff: My approach to FAS stems from the simple belief that Southeast Asia has so much more to offer than what we, as Southeast Asians ourselves even realise, much less the wider world. We have such a strong sense of identity and culture, with so many stories to be told, and FAS uses the recognisability of Western art merely as an entry point for others to gain interest in these narratives and find their own way of relating to them. It’s also always about accessibility—from the way that we present the exhibition in everyday spaces and environments that people are comfortable with to how we craft all the write-ups and artist statements to the ease of artwork purchase via our website. Because ART CAN BE SO INTIMIDATING!!! Even as a curator, I often find the experience of stepping into a white cube gallery or attending an art show or convention very anxiety-inducing (I don’t like being perceived 😬), so lowering the barriers for budding art appreciators and even artists themselves is very important to me.
Anna: What I appreciated about FAS is its approach to 2D work at a time when the art world seems eager to move away from it. FAS removes it from the “white cube” museum setting that, in my opinion, dominates contemporary art. It brought together artists and illustrators from across Southeast Asia, each with their unique styles, inspirations, and contexts, to reinterpret traditionally well-known Western artworks. The artists took the wheel on this prompt, and the curation lay in pairing context, content, and artist intent.
Were there challenges in communicating the brief to regional artists?
Tiff: Language barriers will always be a challenge for us, given that there are so many languages and dialects being used around the region. I always write the brief in the simplest and most approachable way possible such that if they need to feed it into a translator programme it would hopefully still be able to be easily understood, particularly when it comes to the nitty gritty details like artwork licensing, commission rates, and contract terms. We also always make it a point to keep our communication channels open and accessible at all times so that artists can reach us with any questions and get a quick response. For our GOFY& exhibition series, Anna always does video calls with artists during the curation process to strengthen our relationship with them, too.
What was something surprising that the artists did or responded with?
Tiff: For each edition of FAS (with the first one in 2021 and the 2nd in 2023), we always receive submissions that reinterpret the same original artwork, and it truly makes me so happy to see how artists from different countries or cities reinterpret them in such different ways! One example is Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer, which has been the inspiration for our artists from the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia. “Girl with a Lato-Lato Earring” by Ennuh Tiu from the Philippines reinterpreted Vermeer’s subject as the drag queen, Brigiding, to draw parallels between the two diverse art forms of drag and classical painting, while the artists Fivust (ID), Nadia So (ID), Duong Giap (VN), and PRAWR (TH), all reinterpreted the subject in traditional attire from their home countries.
Another example is The Kiss by Gustav Klimt, which is one of the most iconic portrayals of love to exist in art. Our artists Koalanov, Trust Ur Eyes, Rommel Cahilo (all from the Philippines), Hello Jayne (SG), and Manh Hung (VN), all reinterpreted it in their own styles, colour palettes, and techniques, incorporating their own narratives and lived experiences to make it their own.
It’s always so exciting to see this manifestation of how everyone views art in their own ways and can draw inspiration from the same piece so differently, with their own stories to tell. It’s truly a reminder of the diversity that exists within SEA and the ways that our identity, culture, and unique experiences inform how we view the world. At the same time, we are all deeply interconnected.
What do you want to see more of? What don’t you want to see more of?
Tiff: All of us being less paiseh [read: embarrassed] to ask for what we want!!! I really love it when artists (those that we’ve never come across before or those that we’ve been following for a long time) reach out to us via IG DM, email, or even in person to say hi, share about their work, and ask how they can collaborate with us. When we were in Jakarta this September for JICAF (Jakarta Illustration & Creative Arts Fair), Anna and I really loved the strong sense of community amongst the Indonesians. There were so many times when we were talking to artists, and they would introduce us to their other artist friends and proudly share about their work. I’m such a huge introvert but I’ve really been working on being more direct and confident in “selling” myself and GOFY. 2025 CONFIDENCE ERA, LFG!
What I don’t want to see more of: The genocide in Gaza
Anna: I want to see more play. Art is essentially play—cheeky and undeniably personal. I also want to see art displayed in spaces outside museums more often. People need to stop keeping the stock images that come with their Ikea frames and start buying from local artists to fill their spaces! In my opinion, art in a space has the power to change how you view the world.