In recent years, the practice of the Jakarta-based collective ruangrupa has gained exceptional traction in the contemporary art world. Their appointment as the Artistic Director of documenta 15 in 2022 has allowed a more compelling understanding of the collective’s practice guided by the values of “lumbung,” “an alternative, community-oriented model of sustainability in ecological, social and economic terms, in which resources, ideas and knowledge are shared.” The book How to Pin Down Smoke: ruangrupa since 2000, published in 2025 by Afterall in association with Asia Art Archive; the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College; documenta Institut; and the Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts, University of Gothenburg, maps out the genealogy of the animated and complex ecosystem that ruangrupa has cultivated and which has shaped the trajectory of the group’s practice. Carlos Quijon, Jr. talks to the volume’s editors, Arianna Mercado, David Morris, and Wing Chan, about their editorial processes and considerations.
Published in @themuseumofmodernart post:notes on art in a global context
🔗 Read the full converation via link in bio
opening an exhibition 🔜 at casa azul, @institutocervantesmanila ’s space in intramuros ⭐️ with @fierydaisy_ & @cristina.gamon 🫧 exhibition opens on jan 26 with an artist talk and reception! 🐌 free and open to the public! hope to see u there!
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A dash, a colon
January 26–March 28, 2026
Casa Azul, Instituto Cervantes (Intramuros branch)
Calle Real, Plaza San Luis Complex, Intramuros, Manila
Brisa Amir
Cristina Gamón
curated by Arianna Mercado
Artist talk and conversation: January 26, 4:30PM
Opening reception: January 26, 6:00PM
The Embassy of Spain, through its Cultural Section and the Instituto Cervantes, is pleased to invite you to the exhibition A dash, a colon, taking place from January 26–March 28, 2026 at Casa Azul, Instituto Cervantes in Intramuros. This exhibition brings together the work of artists Brisa Amir (PH) and Cristina Gamón (ES) and is curated by Arianna Mercado (PH).
A dash, a colon thinks through ideas around surface, continuity, and thresholds, and how these can be explored by artists with diverse and experimental approaches to painting. In writing, a dash (—) and a colon (:) are punctuations often used to connect ideas beyond its initial clause. These punctuations facilitate the introduction of further elaborations, context, and information. Their textual character, while informative, are also indications of pauses and interruptions in reading: giving emphasis, drama, and breath to words strung together. A dash, a colon reflects on the dual function of these punctuations through Amir and Gamón’s painterly-sculptural process, which seek to reveal unseen structures in artmaking going beyond the visual plane of a painting.
How to Pin Down Smoke: ruangrupa since 2000 is finally released to da world!!! 🌏🌍🌎 this research would not have been possible without the openness and trust of ruru and their infinite amount of collaborators. thank you to our contributors who have added so much depth, color, and texture to the work ruru has been doing for the past 25 years 💐
this book took a village to complete! i feel extremely lucky to have had the privilege to meet so many laidback, sincere, and generous practitioners through the process of making this book 🤸♂️ TERIMA KASIH SEMUA
Thank you to everyone who came to the opening night of “Moments of Delay.” The exhibition is ongoing until 24 August 2025, at MCAD Manila. Do come and visit us if you haven't yet!
"Moments of Delay” is an exhibition and program that critically engages with the concept of contemporaneity as articulated by art critic, media theorist, and philosopher Boris Groys—a potentially infinite period characterized by doubt and hesitation. The exhibition and public programs bring together the diverse practices of thirteen artists to explore the complexities of our present moment, influenced by both the distant and recent past and future aspirations.
Allan Balisi, Rocky Cajigan, Lesley-Anne Cao, Ronyel Compra, Uri de Ger, Celine Lee, Christina Lopez, Neo Maestro, Corinne de San Jose, Joar Songcuya, Tambisan sa Sining, Tropikalye, and Miguel Lorenzo Uy navigate the tensions and contradictions emerging from local contexts, looking inward yet with multiple trajectories responding to the fluidity of time, plural realities, and urgent concerns of the present. Curated by Arianna Mercado and James Tana.
For more information, visit .ph/moments-of-delay
#MCADmanila #MCADexhibitions #momentsofdelay
EXHIBITION OPENING | Moments of Delay
DATE: Tuesday, 27 May 2025, 5:30–8 p.m.
Free Admission
RSVP via bit.ly/momentsofdelay
We are pleased to announce the opening of "Moments of Delay," an exhibition and program that critically engages with the concept of contemporaneity as articulated by art critic, media theorist, and philosopher Boris Groys—a potentially infinite period characterized by doubt and hesitation. The exhibition and public programs bring together the diverse practices of fourteen artists to explore the complexities of our present moment, influenced by both the distant and recent past and future aspirations.
Allan Balisi, Rocky Cajigan, Lesley-Anne Cao, Ronyel Compra, Uri de Ger, Celine Lee, Christina Lopez, Neo Maestro, Corinne de San Jose, Joar Songcuya, Tambisan sa Sining, Tropikalye, and Miguel Lorenzo Uy navigate the tensions and contradictions emerging from local contexts, looking inward yet with multiple trajectories responding to the fluidity of time, plural realities, and urgent concerns of the present. Curated by Arianna Mercado and James Tana.
For more information, visit .ph/moments-of-delay
#MCADmanila #MCADexhibitions #momentsofdelay
May 2025 at MCAD: Meet our curators, Arianna Mercado and James Tana! Arianna is interested in the material manifestations of power and investigates this through exhibitions, research, and publishing, while James’ research focuses on contemporary art —primarily archives, moving image, films, and video works — to explore the relation of memories to land through curatorial strategies of selection and presentation. Together, they'll work with artists for both exhibition and learning programs.
Stay tuned for upcoming announcements and exciting previews
#MCADexhibitions #MCADmanila
dispatches from over a week in hk spent w @parasite.hk and new friends:
1. indigo-stained gloves at chat
2. blindspot gallery’s short-throw projector
3. reasonable rule at junel’s restobar
4. boloho’s collective tiger
5. delicate stain removal between hue and putri
6. don’t panic
7. billy in sheung wan
8. group photo!!!!
9. true arts
last night wing and i were asked to sum up this month spent in jakarta looking into 25 yrs of ruangrupa… healing and touching! a soft landing! a tender hug! exercising a muscle! a winding river! reunions and extensions! there is so much to say yet words feel insufficient! thank u @budicole for your question but it is too difficult to answer!
