Collaborative Intelligence – Shared Realisms for a Symbiotic Society

Speakers: Martin Germann, Kimura Kokoro, Jun Tirtadji, and Stella Zhong

In recent years, the possibility of realizing a symbiotic society has become an important topic of discussion. In the future, we may need to shift our perception of the world and think beyond the global to consider from the scale of solar systems or galaxies, or the scale of quantum phenomena. To achieve this, we must recognize the various layers through which we are connected to others and the world around us, and work to sharpen our awareness of those connections. In this talk, we will invite Martin Germann and Kimura Kokoro, guest curators of the ACK 2025 Public Program themed around symbiosis, along with artist Stella Zhong and Jun Tirtadji, Director of Indonesia’s cutting-edge gallery ROH to explore collaborative and alternative forms of intelligence that offer ways of viewing the world through different scales and disciplinary lenses.

Speakers:
Martin Germann (Independent Curator)
Kimura Kokoro (Curator)
Jun Tirtadji (Director / Founder, ROH)
Stella Zhong (Artist)

Speaker’s Profiles
　

Martin Germann

Martin Germann lives and works in Cologne. Until 2025, he served as adjunct curator for Mori Art Museum. He organized the 9th Biennial of Painting at Belgium’s Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens and served as a curatorial advisor for Aichi Triennale 2022. From 2012 to 2019, he led the artistic department of S.M.A.K. Ghent. Previously, he was a curator at the Kestner Gesellschaft Hannover (2008–2012) and worked for the 3rd and 4th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art. He published numerous exhibition catalogues and monographs, and his writing appeared in magazines such as 032c, Frieze, and Mousse. For Lili Dujourie: Folds in Time, he received an AICA award for Belgium’s best exhibition in 2016.

Kimura Kokoro

Kimura Kokoro is interested in the intersection of feminist and queer perspectives with decolonial discourses and explores the transformative potential of identity and relationality through exhibitions and workshops. She has also collaborated with institutions and artists across Asia, including SURVIVE! Garage (Yogyakarta) and HAPS (Kyoto). Kokoro completed an MA in Arts and Society at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and undertook a research internship at Cemeti: Institute for Art and Society in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Jun Tirtadji

Jun Tirtadji is the founder of ROH, an experimental space for contemporary art which concentrates on the support of artistic and curatorial practices that push the envelope of what is possible, where experimentation is encouraged and actively responsive to the gallery’s unique site. A broader,borderless dialogue emerges out of the gallery’s engagement with artists from Indonesia and beyond the region.

Website: https://rohprojects.net/

Stella Zhong

Stella Zhong works across sculpture, film and painting. She holds a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design, an MFA from Yale University, and is currently based in New York, NY. Zhong has had solo exhibitions at ROH Projects, Jakarta; Antenna Space, Shanghai; The Intermission, Athens; Chapter NY; Fanta-MLN, Milan; among others. Zhong has exhibited internationally at The Powerstation, Dallas; Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul; SculptureCenter, NY; The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Connecticut; and more. Her work has been reviewed on Art Forum, FlashArt, ArtAsiaPacific, Mousse Magazine, Texte zur Kunst, The New York Times, Art in America.

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Live Stream URL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43CEyx3f3ys