Fiona Tan (born 1966 in Pekanbaru, Indonesia) is a visual artist primarily known for her photography, film and video art installations. With her own complex cultural background, Tan's work is known for its skillful craftsmanship and emotional intensity, which often explores the themes of identity, memory, and history. Tan currently lives and works in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Early life and education

Fiona Tan was born in 1966 in Pekanbaru, Indonesia, to an Indonesian Chinese father and Australian mother. Tan spent her early childhood in Melbourne, Australia. In 1984 she moved to Europe, where she has resided since. Between 1988 and 1992 Tan studied at Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. Between 1996-1997 she also studied at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunst.

Artistic practice

In 2019, Tan completed a photography/film project titled L'archive des ombres/Shadow Archive during her residency at the Mundaneum, a repository created by Belgian visionary Paul Otlet with the goal of cataloging all human knowledge. An exhibition of the same name was staged at the Musée des Arts Contemporains Grand-Hornu, Belgium in 2019. In 2009, she represented The Netherlands at the Venice Biennale with the solo presentation Disorient. She has also participated in Documenta 11, the Yokohama Triennale, the Berlin Biennale, São Paulo Biennial and also at the Istanbul Biennial, the Sydney Biennial and Asian Pacific Triennial. Her work is represented in many international public and private collections including the Tate Modern, London, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Schaulager, Basel, the New Museum, New York, and the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. She has been guest lecturer at many art institutions including professor at the postgraduate program De Ateliers, Amsterdam (2006–2014) and Kunsthochschule Kassel (2014–15). In 2003 Tan created a poster, Lift, for Transport for London. In 2016 she directed her debut film, History's Future.[3]Her second feature film Ascent premiered at the 2016 Locarno International Film Festival. During this year she was also the artist in residence at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, California. Tan participated in established international residencies, including IASPIS grant and residency, Stockholm (2003) and DAAD scholarship and residency, Berlin (2001).

Exhibitions

Tan has had solo exhibitions in museums and galleries worldwide including the New Museum, New York, Vancouver Art Gallery, Sackler Galleries, Washington DC, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Switzerland, Akademie der Künsten, Berlin, Kunstverein Hamburg, Konsthal Lund, Landesgalerie Linz, Musée d'Art Contemporain, Montréal, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions

Awards

Publications