Darunee Terdtoontaveedej

artistic research - communication - design - film - gender

Darunee Terdtoontaveedej is a curator and researcher with a strong interest in collecting and forming a collection. Trained as an architect at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London, and later as a designer at Design Academy Eindhoven, Terdtoontaveedej specializes in cross-disciplinary collaboration and looking beyond the design world. Her fascinations include issues such as the home and sense of belonging, the selves, and alternative histories. Prior to her Masters education in The Netherlands, she has worked as a design and architecture journalist and editor for art4d magazine, Thailand's first design magazine and book publisher. In late 2018, Terdtoontaveedej co-founded Non Native Native, a cultural platform which looks into the Asian creative landscape in The Netherlands through the lens of outsiders from within. She has worked as a curator at CinemAsia Film Festival and the 49th edition of International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR).


Neitherlands - Neitherlands is a research which looks into institutional representation of national identities as opposed to the realities of the contemporary culture in The Netherlands through conversations with different “Dutch” people of different background and profession to document it means to be Dutch. The outcome is to be presented in the form of a publication, presenting the search through the lens of a foreigner and a designer. This research is funded by Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie, and with contributions from Florian Braakman, Otto Snoek, Shirin Mirachor, Mariam El Maslouhi, Mohamad Ali Alawa, Joel Blanco, Xiaoxiao Xu, Yoko Wong Chor-Kiu, and Hanh Pham.
The Grand Feast - The Grand Feast attempts to examine the cultural gaps and bring together different cultures through cooking together. Participants are invited to learn and adapt the different types of dumping recipes to share and feast together. Since food is an intuitive medium to experience, as one does not need education or language to taste, but our own instinct, it therefore has the ability to trespass cultural barriers and unite different individuals. This project is part of the 100 Days of Learning program funded by Baltan Laboratories and Hivos.
Our Lives Elsewhere - Our Lives Elsewhere is curated by Darunee Terdtoontaveedej as part of the LGBTQ+ programme during CinemAsia Film Festival at NEVERNEVERLAND. The exhibition showcases the work of Dutch-based Asian queer creatives, namely photographer Xiaoxiao Xu and designer Jonathan Ho under the backdrop of an open-sourced contributions of queer Asian stories from across the globe. During the exhibition, the space is open and performers are invited to create their own interpretations of the work.
Sacred Beings: On Gendering - The Sacred Beings programme during IFFR 2020, by Young Curator Darunee Terdtoontaveedej, sets out a new context for contemporary queer culture. This programme will discuss the shifting view of gender non-conforming people, LGBTQ movements and the false assumption that LGBTQ consciousness is a Western invention between the filmmakers and artists whose work are part of the programme, such as director Sarnt Utamachote, visual artists WangShui and Tanu Gago, with Sarafina van Ast. The conversation concludes with a shapeshifting performance by Raoni Muzho Saleh as an invitation to reimagine what our bodies and spirits are capable of.
Sacred Beings - Sacred Beings brings together different characters from various Asian contexts by forming a contemplative space at the core of the programme. The installation combines a multi-disciplinary body of work by non-artists and artists, thus encouraging new perspectives and imaginations on gender fluidity. The programme is part of the Young Curators initiative, which selects one promising proposal from an open call to curate for the 49th International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). Sacred Beings consists of an installation at Het Nieuwe Instituut, a short film compilation, and a panel discussion with a finissage performance.