Art Basel in Hong Kong 2026, March 26

Conversations | Beyond technology: Kathleen Ditzig and Herbert Hans

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Guest curated and moderated by Venus Lau 
Kathleen Ditzig, Curator, National Gallery Singapore Herbert Hans, Artist, Bandung 
Moderator: Venus Lau, Director, Museum MACAN Jakarta 

The practices of curator Kathleen Ditzig and artist Herbert Hans (of the art collective Tromarama) lie at the intersection of artistic production and the history of technology – somewhere between karaoke and AI. They contemplated how technology – across different scales and temporalities – shapes a polyphony of perceptions and ideas that can inform the organization of reality itself. When technology is no longer merely a tool or interface but a deep-seated environment and force for the construction of order, how might we recognize the textures and fault lines it leaves in everyday life? 
  
Kathleen Ditzig is a Singaporean researcher and curator. Her research interests include exhibition histories of Southeast Asia, global histories of capitalism, and the enduring legacies and networks of the Cold War in cultural production. She is a curator at National Gallery Singapore, where she has worked on advanced technology projects.   
Herbert Hans is a cofounder of Tromarama, a Jakarta and Bandung-based artist collective founded in 2006 with Febie Babyrose and Ruddy Hatumena. The collective creates works that combine video, installation, computer programming, and public participation, exploring the relationship between technology, society, and everyday life. Their practice often examines the blurred line between labor and leisure within digital platforms and how these systems reshape social behavior and economic practices.   
Venus Lau is the director of Museum MACAN in Jakarta. Prior to this, Lau was the art strategic director for Modern (Meta) Media Group after serving as the artistic director at K11 Art Foundation (KAF). For the latter role, she oversaw the foundation’s artistic programming, including German artist Katharina Grosse’s first solo exhibition in China, ‘Mumbling Mud’. Before joining KAF, Lau was the artistic director of OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Shenzhen.  
  
Stage furniture by Porro and B&B Italia, courtesy of Salone del Mobile.Milano

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