Dr Michelle Antoinette is a Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Art History and Theory, and Course Director for the Bachelor of Art History and Curating programme at the Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture at Monash University. She currently lives and works on Boon Wurrung country, nearby Naarm/Melbourne. Her teaching in art and curatorial studies is situated within practices of decolonising art’s histories, while her research focuses on modern and contemporary Asian art histories, especially contemporary art histories of Southeast Asia and their intersections with globalisation. Her Asia interests extend beyond Asia’s geographical borders to encompass the art of Asian diasporas and their contributions to national and transnational art histories, including Asian-Australian artists.
Michelle previously held research and teaching positions at the Australian National University, Canberra, where she was Convenor and Lecturer for courses on Asian and Pacific art and museums. She has held major Australian Research Council Fellowships researching developments in contemporary Asian art and museums: 'The Rise of New Cultural Networks in Asia in the Twenty-First Century' (DP1096041) and the ARC DECRA project ‘Asian Art Publics’ (2017–20 grant no DE170100455).
Her significant publications include Reworlding Art History: Encounters with Contemporary Southeast Asian Art after 1990 (Brill | Rodopi, 2015) and with Caroline Turner, Contemporary Asian Art and Exhibitions: Connectivities and World-making (ANU Press, 2014). In 2019, with Wulan Dirgantoro, she co-curated the exhibition Shaping Geographies: Art, Woman, Southeast Asia, which was held in Singapore and included several Asian-Australian women artists. In 2020, she was co-editor with Francis Maravillas for the special issue of World Art, 'Contemporary art worlds and art publics in Southeast Asia' which was the precursor for the major international symposium Shifting Grounds, New Horizons: Thinking and doing contemporary Southeast Asian art now, held in November 2023.
Shifting Grounds, New Horizons
Thinking and doing contemporary Southeast Asian art now
A 2-day symposium gathering key voices in the field of contemporary Southeast Asian art, following a special journal issue of World Art. Convenors - Dr Michelle Antoinette, Monash University, and Dr Francis Maravillas, National Taipei University of Education. Symposium recordings available soon here.
Right: symposium publicity images featuring works by Yee I-Lann & Ho Tzu Nyen, courtesy the artists (Left: Yee I-Lann, Measuring Project: Chapter 6 (detail), 2021. Digital inkjet pigment print (Giclée) on Hahnemühle Paper. Courtesy the Artist; Right: Ho Tzu Nyen, One or Several Tigers, 2017, synchronized double channel HD projection, automated screen, shadow puppets, 10 channel sound, show-control system. Courtesy of Kiang Malingue Gallery and the Artist).
Asian Art Publics
Understanding new art and museum participation in Asia. This ARC-funded research aims to shed light on the role of art in shaping new kinds of public participation, cultural belonging and creativity in Asia (ARC DECRA 2017, DE170100455).
Contemporary Art Worlds and Art Publics in Southeast Asia
World Art, Volume 10, Issue 2-3 (2020)
Edited by Michelle Antoinette & Francis Maravillas. Contributing authors: Roger Nelson, Seng Yu Jin, Katie Bruhn, Gridthiya Gaweewong, Yvonne Low, Wulan Dirgantoro, David Teh, Patrick Flores, Francis Maravillas and Michelle Antoinette.
Shaping Geographies: Art | Woman | Southeast Asia
Exhibition co-curated by Michelle Antoinette and Wulan Dirgantoro
Artists: Suzann Victor, Savanhdary Vongpoothorn, I Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih, Geraldine Javier, Fika Ria Santika, Kayleigh Goh
November 22, 2019 – January 12, 2020
Gajah Gallery, Singapore
Contact
Email
Michelle.Antoinette@monash.edu