陳靄媛
MEL CHAN
(Hong Kong/the Netherlands)
IT'S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD: FINDING HOPE IN THE TIME OF PRECARITY
Born in a former colony (Hong Kong) of the British Empire, 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).
Her artistic research traces the intricate relations between our dystopian situation and the legacies of Colonialism and (Neo)Colonialism. 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 precarity.
Based in the Netherlands, she has exhibited/performed in various art spaces in Den Haag (1646, Quartair, The Grey Space in the Middle, Page Not Found), Rotterdam (Kunstinstituut Melly, V2_, Roodkaapje), Amsterdam (De Balie, BigArt, Vrij Paleis, Galerie Franzis Engels), Leiden (ACPA Conference), Tilburg (Kaapstad Art In Public Space Festival), and Scotland (Hospitalfield), among others. She graduated from Master Artistic Research in The Royal Academy of Art The Hague (KABK) in 2019, and has a double major degree in Philosophy and Comparative Literature from the University of Hong Kong.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2023
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
WHITE CHRYSANTHEMUMS AND PRINCE EDWARD|白菊與太子, SinArts Gallery, Den Haag, the Netherlands (SOLO EXHIBITION).
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