Following his 2014 residency, the New York-based artist has developed a project from AAA's Ha Bik Chuen Archive consisting of "sculptural spaces" built by his fictional collaborator, Suha Traboulsi, who has reproduced canonical modern paintings by Arab artists.
15 INVITATIONS for 15 Years
A special programme series featuring exhibitions, projects, written works, performances, a blog, and publication marking Asia Art Archive's 15-year anniversary. AAA extends 15 Invitations to creative practitioners to look within and beyond the organisation as an archive, a collection of material, a digital platform, and a node in a wider collective network. The 15 Invitations take various sizes, forms, and directions—literary, polemic, political, sonic, physical, and digital—and function as a series of 'drop pins' to alternatively navigate where AAA originated and where it may be going.
Section 39_Index XXXVII: Traboulsi
WALID RAAD's project stems from his interest and research into AAA's HA BIK CHUEN Archive. During his 2014 AAA residency, Raad was introduced to the work of Ha Bik Chuen. Raad immediately realised Ha's affinity to one of his fictional collaborators, SUHA TRABOULSI. Works from two collaborative series are on view: 'Editor’s Introduction' (1972–1980) and 'Notes' (1983–2009).
Walid Raad: Section 39_Index XXXVII: Traboulsi by Walid RaadAsia Art Archive
Walid Raad (b. 1967)
WALID RAAD is an artist and Professor of Art at the Cooper Union, New York. Raad's works include The Atlas Group, a fifteen-year project between 1989 and 2004 about the contemporary history of Lebanon, and ongoing projects Scratching on Things I Could Disavow and Sweet Talk:Commissions (Beirut). His books include The Truth Will Be Known When The Last Witness Is Dead; My Neck is Thinner than a Hair; Let's Be Honest, the Weather Helped; and Scratching on Things I Could Disavow. Raad's works have been shown at The Museum of Modern Art, New York;the Louvre, Paris; Documenta 11 and 13, Kassel; Kunsthalle Zurich; Whitechapel Art Gallery, London;the Venice Biennale; the Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin; Homeworks, Beirut; and other museums and venues throughout Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. Raad is the recipient of the ICP Infinity Award (2016); Hasselblad Award (2011); Guggenheim Fellowship (2009); Alpert Award in Visual Arts (2007); Deutsche Börse Photography Prize (2007); and Camera Austria Award (2005).
Editor's Introduction (1972-1980)
'Editor's Introduction' consists of several 'sculptural spaces' built by SUHA TRABOULSI and inspired by the ephemera-laden collage books of the Hong Kong artist Ha Bik Chuen (1925-2009).
Walid Raad | Section 39_Index XXXVII: Traboulsi (2016-06-21/2016-09-03) by Walid RaadAsia Art Archive
Images: Suha Traboulsi, Section 39_Index XXXVII: Traboulsi (Editor's Introduction I-V) (2016). Courtesy of the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery.
Notes (1983-2009)
The 'Notes' series consists of Suha Traboulsi's reproductions of canonical modern paintings by Arab artists. The reproductions were scattered among several years of archival research to reassemble some of her paintings, including a piece derived from a work by RAMSES YOUNAN shown here.
AAA COLLECTION | THE HA BIK CHUEN ARCHIVE
The Ha Bik Chuen Archive presents one window into Hong Kong's art history: Primarily known as a sculptor and printmaker, artist HA BIK CHUEN (1925–2009) had parallel practices of photographing exhibitions he attended, and collecting materials including illustrated magazines andartist portraits, in part for the construction of book collages. Ha's entire collection has been stored in his Hong Kong studio since his passing. Asia Art Archive began an initial pilot project to map, assess,and selectively digitise Ha’s archive by invitation of the Ha family in 2013. Made available to a wider audience for the first time, the archive consists of a continuously growing selection of Ha’s collage books, exhibition documentation, and exhibition catalogues. Due to the vast volume of Ha's archive,materials digitised and shared on this platform are prioritised with more material that will be gradually made accessible through the AAA website.
Images: freely accessible Ha Bik Chuen Archive collage books from the AAA website.
15 Invitations for 15 Years is supported by the S. H. Ho Foundation Limited, the C. K. & Kay Ho Foundation, and The Hong Kong Arts Development Council. The programme is part of the ADC 20th Anniversary Celebration Series. Special thanks to Hani Charaf, Kemistry Design; and Spring Workshop.
