In this segment, Leeza Ahmady talks with Patrick Flores, one of the most active curators working in Southeast Asia today, just after completion of his four-month research grant from the Asian Cultural Council to study the modern-to-contemporary shift in American Museums. The conversation, held at They cover a range of issues on the topic of Southeast Asian Art, recorded at Tyler Rollins Fine Art in New York City in October 2010 covers a brief history of modern and contemporary art in Southeast Asia, from the cultural programs of Imelda Marcos to the recent flourish of the “artist-curator.”

Flores discusses his views on the influence (and sometimes lack thereof) of Western Art History on the region and the current challenges faced by SE Asian artists and curators in trying to assimilate into the larger international art community. His unique insights into the various art scenes in this part of the world build a strong case for Southeast Asia’s importance as a hub for new ideas and a force to be reckoned with as contemporary art shifts from a regional to an international discourse. (41 minutes)

Patrick Flores is Professor of Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the University of the Philippines at Diliman, and is the Curator of the University of the Philippines Vargas Museum and Adjunct Curator of the National Art Galleries of the Philippines and Singapore. A recognized scholar in the fields of Philippine and Asian art, Flores has organized several national and international platforms, including Luz: Traces of Depiction at the National Museum of the Philippines (2006), and Under Construction: New Dimensions of Asian Art at the Japan Foundation Asia Center (2000-2003). In 2008, he was a curator for the Position Papers series at the Gwangju Biennale. Flores is the author of numerous articles and several books concerning Philippine art.