Conjugations – TAF Conversation with Xiaoyu Weng, Trinh Thi Nguyễn, Putu Sridiniari, Julia Bryan-Wilson, Korakrit Arunanondchai and Trương Công Tùng – Tanoto Art Foundation
On September 6th, the opening day of the 36th Bienal de São Paulo, a program conceived by the Tanoto Art Foundation will take place. This activation is part of Conjugations, the public program of the 36th Bienal de São Paulo, which aims to bring together institutions from around the world to conjoin, explore, and collectively celebrate humanity. The event will be held from 1pm to 3pm in the Auditorium on the third floor.
This edition of the TAF Conversation begins with an introduction by Xiaoyu Weng, Artistic Director of TAF and one of the curators of documenta 16, followed by film excerpts by Trinh Thi Nguyễn, a presentation on Murni’s oeuvre by Putu Sridiniari, film excerpts by Korakrit Arunanondchai and Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn, a conversation between Korakrit Arunanondchai, Trin Thi Nguyễn, and Trương Công Tùng moderated by Julia Bryan-Wilson, and a performance by Trương Công Tùng.
Conceived as a syncretic and hybrid gathering, the event unfolds through a series of screenings, a lecture, a panel discussion, and a performance that explore the relationships between memory construction and material traditions. The thoughts, sounds, words, and movements presented in this space offer a profound meditation on humanity and the sensory intelligence it shares with the living world and its many beings.
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Korakrit Arunanondchai (1986, Bangkok, Thailand) sees art as a vital tool for storytelling and creating experiences that disrupt linear temporality. In his work, the artist envisions the possibility of crafting counter-histories, proposing discontinuities in causality to make way for new forms of coexistence in the face of present-day challenges. Working primarily from the Thai cultural context and his experience as an immigrant artist in the United States, he explores the relationship between systems of social organization and the many rituals and myths that shape collective life.
Trin Thi Nguyễn (1973, Vietnam) is a pioneer of the moving image not only within Vietnam’s contemporary art scene but also throughout Southeast Asia. Her background in journalism, photography, and ethnographic studies underpins her artistic commitment to essayistic cinema—a distinctive narrative method she employs to investigate perception, often repurposing found footage to construct alternative historical narratives of memory.
Trương Công Tùng has exhibited extensively both in Vietnam and internationally, as a solo artist and as part of the Art Labor Collective. His work has been featured at the 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Brisbane, Australia (2024), at Cloud Chamber Para Site, Hong Kong (2024); and in The Spirits of Maritime Crossing, organized by the Bangkok Art Biennale Foundation as a collateral event of the 60th Venice Biennale (2024).
Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn (1976, Saigon. Lives in Ho Chi Minh City, and Irvine) explores the power of memory as a form of political resistance, engaging with communities affected by colonialism, war, and displacement. He holds a BFA from the University of California and a MFA from the California Institute of the Arts. Nguyễn focuses primarily on the production of moving-image works and sculpture, investigating historical erasures imposed by colonial projects. His work has been exhibited at the New Museum and the Whitney Biennial (New York), Aichi Triennale (Tokoname), Biennale de Dakar, Sharjah Biennial, and Berlin Biennale. His works are part of collections such as Carré d’Art (Nîmes), SFMoMA (San Francisco), MoMA and the Whitney Museum (New York).
Murni (1966, Tabanan– 2006, Ubud) was a self-taught artist who refined her practice at the Seniwati Gallery of Art by Women and under the mentorship of painter I Dewa Putu Mokoh. Initially trained in the Pengosekan style, she later subverted its conventions to develop a visual language marked by simple contours and monochromatic backgrounds. Her work explores themes of female identity, desire, and trauma, reclaiming bodily agency through raw, instinctive forms. Once considered “immoral,” she is now recognized for reshaping the discourse on female experience in Indonesian contemporary art. Murni exhibited at the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra), the National Gallery Singapore, and the Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh), among others.
Putu Sridiniari (1991, Ubud, Bali) currently spends most of her time in Yogyakarta, after completing her Master’s in Cultural Studies (IRB) at Sanata Dharma University. Her research focuses on aesthetics and semiotics in the Balinese post-colonial context. She graduated in Visual Communication Design from Universitas Pelita Harapan, in Karawaci, where she creates conceptual installations, videos, and prints.
Julia Bryan-Wilson is a professor of Contemporary Art and LGBTQ+ Studies and a core faculty member at the Institute for the Study of Sexuality and Gender at Columbia University. Her research interests include feminist and queer theory, theories of artistic labor, performance and dance, making/production, craft histories, photography, video, nuclear visual culture, and collaborative practices. Bryan-Wilson is a curator at the MASP where she co-organized major group exhibitions such as Histories of Women, Histories of Dance, and Queer Histories. Her exhibition Louise Nevelson: Persistence was an official collateral event at the 2022 Venice Biennale; and with Andrea Andersson, she co-curated Cecilia Vicuña: About to Happen, which debuted at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans in 2017 and traveled to the Berkeley Art Museum, Henry Art Gallery, ICA Philadelphia, and MOCA North Miami. In 2024, she served as President of the International Jury of the 60th Venice Biennale.
The Tanoto Art Foundation is one of the first private art foundations in Singapore dedicated to bridging cultures and communities across the Asia-Pacific, South America, and beyond, while fostering new and unexplored connections. The institution’s goal is to deepen appreciation and engagement with art by creating a space where artists, audiences, and diverse voices can come together. Through its initiatives, it seeks to engage, educate, and embrace a wide range of narratives while empowering artists to share their stories with the world.
Service
Conjugations – Tanoto Art Foudation
36th Bienal de São Paulo – Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice
September 6, 2025
Saturday, 1 pm
Auditorium
Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion
Ibirapuera Park, gate 3
Av. Pedro Álvares Cabral, s/n
São Paulo, SP
free admission
