Academic Profile : Faculty
Prof Ute Meta Bauer
Professor, School of Art, Design and Media
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Ute Meta Bauer is a curator of exhibitions and presentations, connecting contemporary art, film, video and sound through transdisciplinary formats and a full professor at NTU's School of Art, Design and Media. She is currently a Senior Principal Research Fellow at the NTU CCA Singapore – Centre for Contemporary Art, Singapore — a research centre of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) for which she served between October 2013 and June 2024 as its Founding Director. Since October 2013 she is a full professor in the School of Art, Design and Media (ADM), where she also was Co-Chair (2018 and 2024) of the Master of Arts in Museum Studies and Curatorial Practices, the first course taught university degree in Southeast Asia, which she co-initiated for the NTU School of Art Design and Media and the NTU CCA Singapore.
From 2012 to 2013, she served as Dean of Fine Art at the Royal College of Art, London, UK. Prior to that, she was Associate Professor, School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, where she was the Founding Director of the Program in Art, Culture, and Technology (ACT) (2009–2012) and Director of the MIT Visual Arts Program (2005–2009). She served as professor for ten years at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria (1996 – 2006), heading the Institute of Contemporary Art and holding the position as Vice-Rector International Relations (2002-2005).
During her tenure as Founding Director of the Office for Contemporary Art (OCA) in Oslo, Norway (2002-2005), she was also commissioner of the Nordic Pavilion (Norway, Sweden) for the 50th edition of the Venice Biennale (2003) and Norwegian contributor for the Bienal de São Paulo (2004). Furthermore, she co-directed with Hou Hanru of the World Biennial Forum No. 1, Gwangju, South Korea, 2012; she was Artistic Director of the 3rd berlin biennale for contemporary art, 2004 and Co-Curator of Documenta11 (2001–2002) on the team of artistic director Okwui Enwezor. In 2020 Bauer was invited into the working group of Sharjah Biennial 15: "Thinking Historically in the Present" (March - May 2023), was the curator of the Singapore Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale (2022) featuring artist Shubigi Rao, and a co-curator of the 17th Istanbul Biennial (2022) alongside filmmaker Amar Kanwar and art historian David Teh. Between 2023 and was the Artistic Director of the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2024, where she currently serves on the biennale's advisory board.
At the NTU CCA Singapore, Bauer curated and co-curated “Paradise Lost” (2014), “Theatrical Fields” (2014), “Yang Fudong, Incidental Scripts” (2014/2015), “Simryn Gill, Hugging the Shore” (2015), “Allan Sekula: Fish Story, to be continued” (2015), T”omás Saraceno: Arachnid Orchestra. Jam Sessions” (2015), “Joan Jonas, They Come to Us without a Word” (2016), “Amar Kanwar, The Sovereign Forest” (2016), “Incomplete Urbanism: Attempts of Critical Spatial Practice” (2016/2017), “The Making of an Institution” (2017), “Ulrike Ottinger, China. The Arts – The People” (2017), “Ghosts and Spectres – Shadows of History” (2017), “The Oceanic” (2017/2018), “Tarek Atoui, The Ground: From the Land to the Sea” (2018), “Trees of Life: Knowledge in Material” (2018), “Stagings. Soundings. Readings. Free Jazz II” (2018), “Siah Armajani: Spaces for the Public. Spaces for Democracy” (2019), “The Posthuman City: Climates. Habitats. Environments.” (2019/2020) and “Non-Aligned”(2020). The last exhibition curated by Bauer and presented at Gilman Barracks, Block 43 before its closure was "Trinh T. Minh-ha: Films" (2020/2021).
Bauer was as a member on the National Gallery Singapore’s Research Panel (2015-2022) and a steering committee member of the 6th Singapore Biennale 2019/2020.
International activities:
In 2015, Bauer co-curated with MIT List Centre for Visual Art Director Paul Ha, presenting eminent artist Joan Jonas, the US Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale that received Honorary Mention for best National Pavilion by the International Jury. Bauer was an expedition leader of TBA21-Academy The Current (2015–2018) exploring the Pacific Archipelago and littorals that are most impacted by climate change and human interventions in their environments that led to the exhibition “The Oceanic” (2017/2018) at the NTU CCA Singapore. This established ongoing collaborations engaging with the lasting impact of climate change between NTU CCA Singapore and artists and community groups in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Bauer served as Chairperson of the Goethe Institute Visual Art Board (2004-2008), the International Scientific Advisory Board of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation (2001-2011), a member of the Rockbund Art Museum (RAM) Advisory Board, Shanghai (2015-2022). She served on the selection committe of documenta 15 Commission in Kassel, Germany and was a member of the Real Patronato (board of trustees) of the Museo National Centre del Arte Reina Sofia, Spain. She serves on the governing council of n.b.k. (Neuer Berliner Kunstverein), is a member of the Expert Team of IHME Helsinki (since 2015), the Academy of the Art of the World (ADKDW), Cologne, Germany, and is a Trustee of TBA21 Thyssen Bornemisza Art Contemporary Madrid.
From 2012 to 2013, she served as Dean of Fine Art at the Royal College of Art, London, UK. Prior to that, she was Associate Professor, School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, where she was the Founding Director of the Program in Art, Culture, and Technology (ACT) (2009–2012) and Director of the MIT Visual Arts Program (2005–2009). She served as professor for ten years at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria (1996 – 2006), heading the Institute of Contemporary Art and holding the position as Vice-Rector International Relations (2002-2005).
During her tenure as Founding Director of the Office for Contemporary Art (OCA) in Oslo, Norway (2002-2005), she was also commissioner of the Nordic Pavilion (Norway, Sweden) for the 50th edition of the Venice Biennale (2003) and Norwegian contributor for the Bienal de São Paulo (2004). Furthermore, she co-directed with Hou Hanru of the World Biennial Forum No. 1, Gwangju, South Korea, 2012; she was Artistic Director of the 3rd berlin biennale for contemporary art, 2004 and Co-Curator of Documenta11 (2001–2002) on the team of artistic director Okwui Enwezor. In 2020 Bauer was invited into the working group of Sharjah Biennial 15: "Thinking Historically in the Present" (March - May 2023), was the curator of the Singapore Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale (2022) featuring artist Shubigi Rao, and a co-curator of the 17th Istanbul Biennial (2022) alongside filmmaker Amar Kanwar and art historian David Teh. Between 2023 and was the Artistic Director of the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2024, where she currently serves on the biennale's advisory board.
At the NTU CCA Singapore, Bauer curated and co-curated “Paradise Lost” (2014), “Theatrical Fields” (2014), “Yang Fudong, Incidental Scripts” (2014/2015), “Simryn Gill, Hugging the Shore” (2015), “Allan Sekula: Fish Story, to be continued” (2015), T”omás Saraceno: Arachnid Orchestra. Jam Sessions” (2015), “Joan Jonas, They Come to Us without a Word” (2016), “Amar Kanwar, The Sovereign Forest” (2016), “Incomplete Urbanism: Attempts of Critical Spatial Practice” (2016/2017), “The Making of an Institution” (2017), “Ulrike Ottinger, China. The Arts – The People” (2017), “Ghosts and Spectres – Shadows of History” (2017), “The Oceanic” (2017/2018), “Tarek Atoui, The Ground: From the Land to the Sea” (2018), “Trees of Life: Knowledge in Material” (2018), “Stagings. Soundings. Readings. Free Jazz II” (2018), “Siah Armajani: Spaces for the Public. Spaces for Democracy” (2019), “The Posthuman City: Climates. Habitats. Environments.” (2019/2020) and “Non-Aligned”(2020). The last exhibition curated by Bauer and presented at Gilman Barracks, Block 43 before its closure was "Trinh T. Minh-ha: Films" (2020/2021).
Bauer was as a member on the National Gallery Singapore’s Research Panel (2015-2022) and a steering committee member of the 6th Singapore Biennale 2019/2020.
International activities:
In 2015, Bauer co-curated with MIT List Centre for Visual Art Director Paul Ha, presenting eminent artist Joan Jonas, the US Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale that received Honorary Mention for best National Pavilion by the International Jury. Bauer was an expedition leader of TBA21-Academy The Current (2015–2018) exploring the Pacific Archipelago and littorals that are most impacted by climate change and human interventions in their environments that led to the exhibition “The Oceanic” (2017/2018) at the NTU CCA Singapore. This established ongoing collaborations engaging with the lasting impact of climate change between NTU CCA Singapore and artists and community groups in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Bauer served as Chairperson of the Goethe Institute Visual Art Board (2004-2008), the International Scientific Advisory Board of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation (2001-2011), a member of the Rockbund Art Museum (RAM) Advisory Board, Shanghai (2015-2022). She served on the selection committe of documenta 15 Commission in Kassel, Germany and was a member of the Real Patronato (board of trustees) of the Museo National Centre del Arte Reina Sofia, Spain. She serves on the governing council of n.b.k. (Neuer Berliner Kunstverein), is a member of the Expert Team of IHME Helsinki (since 2015), the Academy of the Art of the World (ADKDW), Cologne, Germany, and is a Trustee of TBA21 Thyssen Bornemisza Art Contemporary Madrid.
• Relationship between climate crisis and cultural loss, research-based environmentally-engaged artistic practices, environmental justice.
• Impact of colonialism on culture and its relationship to today’s climate crisis in Southeast Asian and Pacific communities.
• Curatorial, artistic and academic networks of exchange that foster a pluriversal understanding of Southeast Asia.
• The notion of place, the intersection between locality and global, labour, and flows of capital.
• Impact of colonialism on culture and its relationship to today’s climate crisis in Southeast Asian and Pacific communities.
• Curatorial, artistic and academic networks of exchange that foster a pluriversal understanding of Southeast Asia.
• The notion of place, the intersection between locality and global, labour, and flows of capital.
- Climate Transformation Programme - Cross-cutting theme 1 (Yong Ming Lee)
- Climate Transformation Programme - Cross-cutting theme 1 (Laura Miotto)
- Climate Transformation Programme - Cross-cutting theme 1 (Sonny Rosenthal - SMU)
- Climate Transformation Programme - Cross-cutting theme 1 (Shirley Ho)
- Climate Transformation Programme - Cross-cutting theme 1 (Ute Meta Bauer)
- Climate Transformation Programme ( PI: Thomas Schroepfer, SUTD)
- Climate Transformation Programme
- Climate Transformation Programme - Cross-cutting theme 1 (Edson Tandoc Jr)
- Climate Transformation Programme - Cross-cutting theme 1 (Community Engagement)
Awards
Honorary Mention for Best National Pavilion, La Biennale di Venezia, 2015 for the United States Pavilion featuring artist Joan Jonas; Singapore Book Award 2018 for Best Illustrated Non-Fiction Book for Tomás Saraceno. Arachnid Orchestra.