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Join us for a curator’s talk and discussion with international visiting curator John Tain (Hong Kong), who discusses his research and art interests as appointed Curator – Of Mountains and Seas, the third edition of The Lahore Biennale 2024, that focuses on ecology and sustainable futures. He will also discuss his previous work as Head of Research at Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong.

For this talk John Tain introduces the methodologies that informs the research and thinking behind the Biennale exhibition, that draws on Lahore’s history and the fabric of the city, to highlight vernacular and indigenous heritage as potent resources for imagining future sustainability. The biennale will showcase place-making by devoting a number of projects on The Mall, a historical centre for public expression and cultural activity. By actively implementing forms of solidarity between artists, thinkers, researchers, and the broader community, the biennale project highlights the issues caused by environmental degradation and how local climate, eco consciousness, archaeology and urban issues of Lahore’s city are increasingly global.  

To give context, Tain reflects on wider curatorial practice in the public sphere, drawing on recent projects that include Translations, Expansions, AAA’s contribution to documenta fifteen (2022); Crafting Communities (2020), on the social practice of the Womanifesto collective and Women Make Art History (2018), the Guerrilla Girls’ first new commission in Asia. 

This talk is presented at part of the new initiative IRELAND INVITES organised by IMMA, Hugh Lane Gallery and Culture Ireland.


About the speaker

John Tain joined Asia Art Archive (AAA, Hong Kong) as Head of Research in 2017, and prior to that, served as a curator for modern and contemporary collections at the Getty Research Institute (Los Angeles).  

Exhibitions that he has curated or co-curated include Translations, Expansions, AAA’s contribution to documenta fifteen (2022); Crafting Communities (2020), on the social practice of the Womanifesto collective; Out of Turn, Serendipity Arts Festival (2018); Women Make Art History (2018), the Guerrilla Girls’ first new commission in Asia; Yasuhiro Ishimoto: Someday, Chicago (2018); In Focus: Ed Ruscha (2013); and Greetings from L.A.: Artists and Publics, 1950-1980, part of the original Pacific Standard Time initiative. Research projects that he initiated include Independent Art Spaces of Taiwan (2022-present); the Art Schools of Asia (2021-22) seminar and accompanying symposium; and MAHASSA (Modern Art Histories in and across Africa, and South and Southeast Asia), co-organized with the Dhaka Art Summit and Cornell University’s Institute for Comparative Modernities (Hong Kong and Dhaka, 2019-20). He has lectured and published widely and has served as a series editor for Afterall’s Exhibition Histories. Since 2021, he has served as an advisor to Asia Forum. 

Tain has contributed to many publications, including the Introduction in Uncooperative Contemporaries: Art Exhibitions in Shanghai (Afterall, 2020); The Lives of Others, Artforum (2016); Taxonomies of Desire, Hwayeon Nam: Time Mechanics (Arko Art Center, 2015); and From My Space to the Face of Facebook: Zhu Jia and the Work of Social Landscape (Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House, 2015). He is an editor for the Exhibition Histories series, co-published by Afterall with AAA and CCS Bard. 

He has served as a lecturer for the MA Program in Curatorial Practices in the Public Sphere at the USC Roski School of Fine Arts, Los Angeles (2011–2017). Tain earned a BA in Social Studies and Fine Arts from Harvard College, Cambridge, was a grad student in History of Art at the University of California, Berkeley.  

Born in Taipei, he currently lives and works in Hong Kong where Tain is the Head of Research at Asia Art Archive, where he leads a team based in Hong Kong, New Delhi and Shanghai. 


About Lahore Biennale 

The Lahore Biennale 03 opening on October 5, 2024 

The Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF) announces that the opening of the third edition of the Lahore Biennale (LB03) has been set for Saturday, October 5th, 2024. Organised around the theme of ecologies and sustainable futures, the Biennale will present site-specific work that draws attention to issues caused by environmental degradation, but that also highlights vernacular and indigenous heritage as potent resources for imagining future sustainability. More details here.


About Ireland Invites

IMMA, Hugh Lane Gallery and Culture Ireland are delighted to announce a new 3-year pilot named IRELAND INVITES, aimed at showcasing Irish visual art to the international biennale circuit.

IRELAND INVITES seeks to enhance international exposure for Irish visual artists by hosting biennale curators to undertake visits to studio and art institutions in Ireland. During their visit curators will have the opportunity to enhance their understanding of contemporary art practices in Ireland availing of the curatorial expertise of IMMA, Hugh Lane Gallery and Culture Ireland, who will facilitate research and create bespoke hosted trips for each visiting curator.

More details here.


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