Fluid Transitions

Belarmino&Partners and Ateneo Art Gallery presents Fluid Transitions, a collaborative work between Danish-Filipina performance and visual artist Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen and Thai fashion designer Shone Puipia, happening on the 15th of June 2023 Thursday at 4:00 p.m at the Ateneo Art Gallery.

This project, which marries performance, visual arts and fashion, was initiated and curated by Vanini Belarmino. Conceived initially as a process-based artistic intervention as an invitation to reflect on the works by Southeast Asian female artists like Pinaree Sanpitak, Pacita Abad, Mella Jaarsma, Brenda Fajardo and Fatimah Chik on display at the National Gallery Singapore, Fluid Transitions has since evolved over the three-year period of ongoing conversation amongst the collaborators.

Following its premiere at the National Gallery Singapore, the organisers proudly bring a unique iteration of Fluid Transitions for the Manila audiences. Fluid Transitions is a performance work by Cuenca Rasmussen that reflects on existential matters in a time of significant paradigm shifts where chaos is vital to make a new order. Delivering a selection of original text accompanied by live and recorded music and donning an elaborate costume doubling as her set, Cuenca Rasmussen’s performance bears with it multiple characters that shift between an activist, a preacher, a sorcerer, a queen, queer and a wonder woman. The elaborate and intricate costumes created by Thai fashion designer Shone Puipia consisting of four layers, serve as markers in the identity shifts. As a new character is revealed, Cuenca Rasmussen will be stripping them off like the Russian Babushka dolls.

Background:

• The idea of bringing Danish-Filipina visual and performance artist Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen and Thai fashion designer Shone Puipia together was initiated by curator Vanini Belarmino in February 2020 while working for the National Gallery Singapore. The impetus was to open up an avenue for collaboration that zooms into the value of process vis a vis artistic outcome.

• The initial step of the process for the artists who have yet to meet in person, and have accepted this facilitated artistic intervention, was to respond to a space and a selection of works by Southeast Asian female artists like Pinaree Sanpitak, Pacita Abad, Brenda Fajardo, Fatima Chik, Diah Yulianti and Mella Jaarsma.
• Following the initial conversation, Cuenca Rasmussen wrote a text entitled “Gynophobia” in response to the artists mentioned above. From her text, Puipia imagined and interpreted the words through costume sketches,

• With the artistic matchmaking interrupted by the realities presented by COVID-19, Cuenca Rasmussen has since presented a series of works on “Gynophobia” in Denmark in 2020.

• Fast forward to 2022, with Puipia completing the intricate layers of costumes, Cuenca Rasmussen expressed her wish to develop a new performance, leading to her idea of “Fluid Transitions.”

• To expand on the collaborative efforts, the team collectively decided that after the premiere at the National Gallery Singapore in April 2023, the work will evolve and be recontextualised for cities where the collaborators live, work or have some degree of connection. The presentation of Fluid Transitions from place to place is essential to unfolding and growing the performance series.

About the Collaborators Artists

Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen (DK) is a performance and visual artist who, throughout her career, has evolved a definite cross-aesthetic expression. Text and other mechanisms, such as music, costumes, and stringent scenography, play a significant role in her narratives. Adopting a critical and humorous approach, she asks questions about ethnicity, identity, gender, social relations, and affiliation. Many of these themes reflect Cuenca Rasmussen’s dual nationality with her Filipino mother and Danish father, making her artistic practice distinct since she points to several cultures simultaneously and, through her art, defines a third position: creating her own home in and with the artwork to take with her wherever she goes. In 2023, Cuenca Rasmussen was conferred the Thorvaldsen Medal and the New Carlsberg Award.

Shone Puipia (TH) is a fashion designer living and working in Bangkok, Thailand. He obtained his MA and BA in Fashion Design from The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium. He founded his label Shone Puipia, with a unique view of the uncompromising beauty of contemporary luxury wear. Designs, encompassing clothing, shoes, and accessories, are meticulously crafted with a focus on sophisticated silhouettes, distinct colour combinations and fabrication. The collections’ vivid narratives illustrate a world walked by delicate yet bold and complex personalities.

Vanini Belarmino (PH/SG) is an independent curator, producer, and writer. In her three-decade-long career, Vanini has spearheaded arts initiatives across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. She founded Belarmino & Partners in Berlin in 2008 and Singapore in 2011 to pursue collaborations with multidisciplinary artists. Her curatorial interest focuses on the productive potential of encounters by identifying and facilitating collaborations between artists across genres. The resulting works create new experiences by situating the body as a living object in a museum or public space. She served as Assistant Director (Programmes) at the National Gallery Singapore from 2016-2021. She worked with institutions like the Asia-Europe Foundation, Ballet Philippines, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and the European Cultural Foundation.

Organiser

Belarmino&Partners is an international art consultancy established by curator Vanini Belarmino in Berlin in March 2008 and in Singapore in April 2011. It was set up to create an innovative framework for artistic exchanges that can change perspectives. Belarmino&Partners aims to contribute to the understanding of people and the continued development of the arts profession by establishing creative projects. The company is committed to developing process-oriented and interdisciplinary initiatives by working in different parts of the world.

www.belarminopartners.com