陳 靄 媛 MEL CHAN
陳靄媛
MEL CHAN
(Hong Kong/the Netherlands)
IT'S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD: FINDING HOPE IN THE RUINS
Born in a former colony (Hong Kong), grew up witnessing the paradigm
shift (from neoliberalism to totalitarianism to ecological crisis) and lives
as a diaspora in western Europe (the Netherlands), “The End of the
World” for Mel Chan is much more than a metaphor -- it is a painful
fact that we need to embrace, a “trouble” that we need to stay with, as
Donna Haraway advocates. How to coexist with/ find hope amid/
embrace the ruins becomes the major theme of Mel Chan’s artistic
practice.
Her artistic research traces the intricate relations between our
dystopian situation and Colonialism past and the Neocolonial present.
Encompassing participatory performances, hypnotherapy, storytelling,
painting and video, her practices not only guide people to live with the
crisis, they are also acknowledgement of historical causation, as well as
investigation of remedies and hopes in time of uncertainty
BIOGRAPHY
Born in Hong Kong and based in the Netherlands, Mel Chan has exhibited/performed in various art spaces and festivals in the Netherlands (Platform POST, Willem Twee Kunstruimte, 1646, Brutus, Quartair, Pictura, Page
Not Found, Kunstinstituut Melly, Brutus, V2_, Roodkaapje, Museum of Young Art (MOYA), De Balie, Vrij Paleis, ACPA Conference, Kaapstad Art In Public Space Festival, among others).
Mel Chan graduated with an MFA (Distinction) in Master of Artistic Research from The Royal Academy of Art, The Hague.
She also holds a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Philosophy and Comparative Literature from The University of Hong Kong.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
IT’ AIN’T OVER TILL IT’S OVER, MOYA (Museum of Young Art), Oosterhout
2023
WHEN I HAVE FEARS THAT I MAY CEASE TO BE, Willem Twee Kunstruimte, Den Bosch
2021
WHITE CHRYSANTHEMUMS AND PRINCE EDWARD, SinArts Gallery, Den Haag
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2025
PERFORMANCE PROGRAM/FESTIVAL MOTEL MOZAIQUE, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam
RIPPLES, RIPPLES, Het Archief Artspace, Rotterdam
IT'S THE ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD, Cloud, Amsterdam
2024
EVER ENDING, Platform Post, Nijmegen
ESCALEREN, Pictura, Dordrecht
TRANSITIONS: NAVIGATING HUMANITY IN A SHIFTING REALITY, The New Current, Brutus, Rotterdam
ART ROTTERDAM, Rademakers Gallery, Rotterdam
SHE KNOWS, Rademakers Gallery, Weesp
2023
PAN AMSTERDAM, Rademakers Gallery, Amsterdam
SPRINGBOARD ART FAIR, Werkspoorkathedraal, Utrecht
A PUBLIC AFFAIR, Young Collectors Circle/Dead Darlings, Amsterdam.
THIS IS THE AGE OF DESTRUCTION, Galerie Franzis Engels, Amsterdam.
ASMR Performance for SOFT DESTRUCTIONS by artist Anna Witt, Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam.
2022
HUMAN KIND. KIND HUMAN. Electron, Breda.
KAAPSTAD: ART IN PUBLIC SPACE FESTIVAL, Tilburg.
DEAD DARLINGS - ISSUE², Vrij Paleis, Amsterdam.
THIS ART FAIR, De Kromhouthal, Amsterdam.
MY GOALS ARE BIGGER THAN YOURS (Collaboration with David Ghelli
Santuliana), Cas-co, Leuven, Belgium.
2021
BIG ART, Hembrugterrein, Zaanstad, the Netherlands.
2020
OPTIMISM OVER DESPAIR, Contemporary Art Weekend, Den Haag
IN TIMES OF CONFINEMENT, Sinarts Gallery, Den Haag, the Netherlands.
2019
NASTY WOMEN, #team/Femke, De Balie, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
ACPA CONFERENCE: IS THIS THING ON? THE PUBLIC DIMENSIONS OF ARTISTIC RESEARCH: Academy of Creative and Performing Arts, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
LOCATING ArtScience #2: Children of the Space (A Forest), Today's Art Festival, The Grey Space In The Middle, Den Haag, The Netherlands
SPECTER, V2_, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
BOOK LAUNCH of If A Tree Falls in a Forest, Page Not Found, Den Haag, The Netherlands
BETTER AS A CHORUS, MA Artistic Research, KABK, Den Haag, The Netherlands
ABANDONED REALITIES, Evermore, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
I WAS MOSTLY DELIGHTED, BUT YES, ALSO A LITTLE BIT AFRAID, Quartair, Den Haag, The Netherlands
2018
ON-GOING CONVERSATIONS #5, 1646, Den Haag, The Netherlands
THE REVERSE OB-SERVANT, Hospitalfield, Arbroath, Scotland
RISE, Quartair, The Hague, The Netherlands
RANDOM COLLECTIVE, Stroom, The Hague, The Netherlands
2017
THE ARTIST WILL BE DRUNK, Jimz Pub/KABK MAR, The Hague, The Netherlands
EDUCATION
MFA (Distinction), Master of Artistic Research,
THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ART, THE HAGUE
Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy and Comparative Literature (Double Major) THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG