Book Launch Event “Across Words Anthology: The making of a Pavilion Book”
August 30 @ 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm
On August 30, from 3:00 to :4.30 PM, SEA Junction will host the Thailand launch of Across Words: An Anthology. The volume was originally unveiled in May 2026 at the Venice Biennale to mark the opening of the Timor-Leste Pavilion, Across Words, at the Arsenale. This publication examines the power of language within Timor-Leste’s intricate communication systems through the works of Veronica Maia Pereira, Etson Caminha, and Juventino Madeira—the three artists representing the country in its second national participation at the Venice Biennale.
While serving as a formal record of the Pavilion, the volume transcends the traditional catalogue format. As an edited manuscript, it assembles a plurality of voices to offer a vital perspective on a culture still largely underrepresented on the global stage. Featuring newly commissioned essays from acclaimed scholars, curators, and artists from across Southeast Asia, the anthology explores critical issues of identity formation, archipelagic belonging, and language as both an artistic medium and a cultural force within a society in transformation.
To celebrate the launch, the event will take the form of a casual conversation between Loredana Pazzini Paracciani, the curator of the pavilion and editor of the volume, and Pojai Akratanakul, the project manager and head researcher. Their discussion will focus on the making of a pavilion book sharing the behind-the-scenes creation of the publication and highlighting how it was developed concurrently with the physical pavilion. The speakers will tackle the why, what, and where of creating the first-ever in-depth reference book dedicated to the contemporary art history of Timor-Leste in relation to the wider Southeast Asian arts and culture landscape.
For more information, please email: info@seajunction.org or phone/wa: +66970024140
NB: The event is free, donations are welcome to support SEA Junction activities.
Speakers Bios
Loredana Pazzini Paracciani is an independent scholar, curator, and long-standing CIMAM member specializing in Southeast Asian contemporary art. Based in the region for over twenty-five years, her curatorial and editorial practice champions counter-hegemonic, non-Western-centric approaches to art and knowledge production.
A prolific writer on critical sociopolitical themes, Loredana curated for the third Bangkok Art Biennale (2022–23) and has partnered with prominent global art institutions. She is the curator of Across Words, the Timor-Leste Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale (2026), and editor of Across Words: An Anthology (Mousse Publishing, 2026).
Pojai Akratanakul is a Bangkok-based curator and currently the Project & Research Manager of the Timor-Leste Pavilion at the 61st La Biennale di Venezia. She recently served as Co-curator of the Bangkok Art Biennale 2024: Nurture Gaia. Her research explores Southeast Asian contemporary art through the lens of shifting sociopolitical realities, complex regional identities, institutional critique, and ecosystem development. Akratanakul holds an MA in Visual Arts Administration from New York University. In her recent role as Curator of the National Art Gallery, Ministry of Culture, she supported research, curatorial, and strategic planning, to build the foundation towards its opening.
Moderated by Rosalia Sciortino, Director of SEA Junction
Organizer
SEA Junction, established under the Thai non-profit organization Foundation for Southeast Asia Studies (ForSEA), aims to foster understanding and appreciation of Southeast Asia in all its socio-cultural dimensions- from arts and lifestyles to economy and development. Conveniently located at Room 407-8 of the Bangkok Arts and Culture Center or BACC (across MBK, BTS National Stadium), SEA Junction facilitates public access to knowledge resources and exchanges among students, practitioners and Southeast Asia lovers. For more information see www.seajunction.org, join the Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/1693058870976440/ and follow us on blue sky and Instagram @seajunction.
