SINGAPORE — Enter the Asian Creators Index, a rich universe of creators inspired by the region we love, doing things so good we’re jealous. Designed to be a simple, intuitive, and comprehensive ‘one-stop gateway’ that enables greater collaboration between Asia’s thriving creative community and the world at large. It celebrates the quality, fluidity & breadth of creativity across the global Asian diaspora.
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“A bit like a gallery & a bit like a feed”, the ACI is the place to find collaborators from across Asia; from paper crafts, bamboo sculpture artists, painters, animators, 3D artists, set and sound designers; it is a feast of multidisciplinary artists and makers. The platform and its content is designed to be a source of inspiration and discovery.
“This public index, from the Instagram posts alone, introduced and connected me to such a diverse group of artists and to a world of craft and art like I’ve never seen before! It’s bite-sized which makes it so easy for us to discover and reach out to one another and create a relationship from there. It’s overwhelmingly inspiring that it fuels me to keep creating and keep supporting Asian creators around the world,” said Daphne Chao (Philippines, p. 36), founder of Ilyang Ilyang.
The Index is broken down into searchable creative categories to maximize findability and ease-of-use. A journey through disciplines – from 3D rendering, paper craft, to weaving and sonic design – the Index reflects the spectrum of creativity that exists across the geographically expansive region. Home to almost two-thirds of the world’s population, Asia is the cradle of a multitude of distinct cultures, languages, styles and mediums which are still thriving and producing untold riches. It is either the home, heritage, or the inspiration for all creators featured in the index.
“The ACI will open your world to so many creators of so many different types of art. It’s an amazing source of exposure and helps you the many talented artists in Asia. For me, it’s a source of inspiration that gives me so much energy and motivation to create more,” said Titiporn Klintachote a.k.a 22mm.t (Thailand, p. 120), the artist featured in the Asian Creators Index.
“It’s like an encyclopaedia of creativity,” said Tina Fung (Singapore, p. 299), co-founder of Space Objekt and artist featured in the Asian Creators Index. She continues: “What a fantastic initiative! I’ll definitely be using it as a great resource.”
Built off a decade’s worth of regional collaboration and searching by Anak, the Index is a live document that is regularly updated to include both established and new breakthrough talent. With a centre of gravity currently in South, East and Southeast Asia, the Index features just under 400 creators and counting spanning the continent, compiled over many years by Anak’s lead Art Buyer, Juliana Ong. Hand selected, reviewed & housed within a collaborative open-access document to ensure accessibility to as wide a group as possible, with a hero Instagram sharing news and highlighting particular creators.
“Asia is home to an incomparable range of styles, crafts, and visual modes born out of its many diverse cultures. From traditional mediums to cutting-edge techniques, it is a region where the new and modern live harmoniously with the old – where future meets the past,” says Juliana Ong, Art Buyer at Anak.
She added: “Some of the world’s best creative talents are here in Asia – the problem is that they’re not always easy to find outside of their own locales, and a lot of them might not spend much time on getting found either. We felt it important to expose these great talents to the rest of the world, through eyes that know and understand the nuances of the different cultures – something that we’ve been fortunate to amass through our decades of work. And we wanted to do it in a way that evolves from the outdated stereotype of the agency ‘little black book’ or ‘best-kept secret’.”
“Diversity is key to creative excellence, and that’s why tapping into the global creative community is so important,” adds Peter & Susan, Mother, International ECDs. “The Asian Creators Index is a resource dedicated to this – it introduces great talent to the world, and hopefully creates more well-deserved opportunities for these very talented creators.
