I'm looking forward to working with the Para/Site Art Space in Hong Kong in a couple of days. I've been organizing a workshop for student's of Para/Site's curatorial program and I'm quite excited about the experiment. Students have for the last weeks been finalizing their exhibitions-in-progress and we'll be conducting what I'm referring to as a curatorial defense. The online experiment will attempt to leverage the new communications technologies to create an environment, similar to a masters thesis defense. Students will be uploading text and images that best communicates their curatorial concepts and organization. I've assembled a team of fantastic Asia-based curators that will be critiquing their projects.

The curatorial critics:
+ Russell Storer. Curator, Contemporary Asian Art. Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art. Brisbane, Australia
+ Zoe M. Butt. Deputy Director, Long March Space, Beijing, China
+ Joselina Cruz. Independent Curator. Manila, The Philippines
+ Biljana Ciric. Independent Curator. Shanghai, China
+ Simon Soon. Independent Curator. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
+ Naoko Horiuchi. Curator. Arts Initiative Tokyo (AIT). Tokyo, Japan
+ Online facilitator: R. Streitmatter-Tran

I'm also now preparing my presentation as a part of the International Curator's Talk Series: I've posted below information from the Para/Site press release.

Public Lecture
"Curatorial Engagements in the Mekong Subregion of Southeast Asia"
by R. Streitmatter-Tran

Date: Friday 17 April 2009
Time: 7:30 PM
Venue: Room C01, Hong Kong Art Development Council
14/F, East Warwick House, Taikoo Place
979 King's Road Hong Kong
Limited Seats: 60

Para/Site Art Space is honored to present a Public Lecture by Rich Streitmatter-Tran, Co-curator with the Asia Pacific Triennial (APT6)

Streitmatter-Tran is going to introduce some of the conditions in the Mekong sub-region that affect contemporary art practices with a particular stress on the curator-artist relationship. He will draw upon his previous research with the Mediating the Mekong project, which is a connection to his current curatorial research with the development of a Mekong-based platform for the Asia Pacific Triennial. He will attempt to provide some insight from the perspective of an artist working with curators and what an artist might consider a "good curator" as opposed to an art critic, institution, and the public at large.

More info
+ Para/Site Art Space
+ Curatorial Engagements in the Mekong Subregion. Press Release. (PDF)