Learning From The Best

They say that behind every great artist, is another great artist. But the question is, how does one find that great mentor? Here’s the answer

- Caroline Suganda

In 2018, I attended Rolex Arts Weekend for the first time. It is a series of public events that feature the work of the protégés of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative with their mentors. There, I met one of the protégés, 31year old Vietnamese artist Thao-Nguyen Phan, who mounted her first international solo exhibition on a global stage at Berlin’s Kulturforum — one of Germany’s most important cultural sites. It would have been a milestone for any artist but it was especially so for Phan, whose name was almost unheard of, save for in her home country and Singapore, where she studied, did a stint as an artist-in-residence at NTU Centre for Contemporary Arts, and exhibited her work at The Esplanade.