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Over the past several months, I’ve been interning as a research assistant at Art World Database, a publication and arts resource specialising in Southeast Asian art.. My roles include managing a website (making sure it’s up to date with all events pertaining to SEA art), conducting interviews, and writing features. This blog reflects on my experiences and learning throughout the internship, documenting the challenges, the moments of growth, and how I’ve navigated the role.

From my first interviews to taking on more responsibility, I’ve learned a lot about the industry and myself. This blog covers everything — the busy months, the stressful moments, and what I’ve gained from it all.

September

When I first started my internship, I was nervous and really wanted to make sure I got everything right. Aside from freelance work this internship has been my first job in the journalistic field. It was also pretty full on from the start, as I was entrusted with conducting two interviews per month and managing the backend of the website which was all pretty new to me. Towards the end of the month I settled in a bit, but for the first few weeks I was working on AWDB everyday – I think I may have over-stressed myself and over-exerted myself. I found it a little tricky to keep up with my friends who were just starting their final year. Tanya and Sofia were both really helpful and friendly which was nice, I’m glad I’m not working for a large company. I spent a lot of my free time researching Southeast Asian art and cultures as I’m pretty unfamiliar with the region – it’s been exciting to learn more, but again pretty full on! This month I created a database for Tanya’s collection/library of Southeast Asian art books, and conducted an interview (over email) with the artist Khairulddin Wahab.

https://artworlddatabase.com/awdb-spotlight-interview-with-khairulddin-wahab

October

This month ramped up even more than the last! Sofia had warned me that October was the busiest month of the year on the internship. The month started with my next interview with Wyn Lyn Tan, again over email which wasn’t too hard – a nice way to settle in. I went along with Tanya and Sofia to a gallery opening for the artist Heman Chong – I’ve only started attending these in the past few months and still find it a little awkward to speak to industry people/artists, but it was nice to have them both there to introduce me to people. Also got taken out to meals with the both of them afterwards which was nice!

https://artworlddatabase.com/awdb-spotlight-interview-with-wyn-lyn-tan

Quickly following the opening with Heman Chong was Frieze London which Tanya and Sofia managed to get me a ticket for. I’ve always wanted to go and to be honest it was a bit of a let down, I didn’t really find any art that I fell in love with and the whole thing was really commercial. The main benefit was being introduced to lots of industry people, like the curator Jenn Ellis, the head of Ames Yavuz Gallery and the team at STPI. It was stressful and I wish I talked a bit more but all in all it was a good experience!

November

Things calmed down a bit at the start of the month. I was mainly doing website management and a few smaller admin tasks, which gave me some space to breathe. Around this time, money started getting tight, so I picked up more shifts at my bar job. It made the days feel longer and I was more tired, but it was necessary.

I also published my favourite interview so far with Pio Abad. I really liked how it came out, and it helped that I got to see his work in person at the Tate before writing it. That made the whole process feel a bit more real and connected. I also interviewed Mulyana this month.

https://artworlddatabase.com/awdb-spotlight-interview-with-pio-abad

https://artworlddatabase.com/awdb-spotlight-interview-with-mulyana

Towards the end of the month, I pitched an article to Plaster magazine about the CSM open studios, and they picked it up. It was exciting but also extremely stressful. I barely slept that week and was constantly second-guessing my writing. I didn’t really have time to step back and look at what I’d done properly, and it felt like I was rushing through everything. I think I put extra pressure on myself because Plaster is a magazine I really admire and would love to write for more. It all worked out in the end, and I got paid, which definitely helped take the edge off.

Back to the drawing board

December

Tanya and Sofia took me out for a Christmas dinner which was really nice. I felt like I finally started to relax a bit more in the role and could be more open with them. It felt less like I was trying to constantly prove myself.

After the stress of the Plaster magazine piece, I think I was a bit less focused on AWDB. I was still getting my work done, but I probably wasn’t as on it as I had been in previous months. They didn’t say anything to me but I felt I wasn’t working as hard as I should have been in November, so I made sure I was on it. I had an interview with Yen Hui Teng which went well, I was more relaxed.

https://artworlddatabase.com/awdb-spotlight-interview-with-yen-hui-teng

I took a proper break over Christmas and New Year — my first real time off since starting the internship. It felt good to properly switch off for a bit.

January

The first interview of the month was with Mella Jaarsma and it was pretty stressful. Tanya had to tell me that I got it wrong — which, in hindsight, I did. My first round of questions were too surface-level and didn’t really get to the point. I think I was nervous about asking anything too personal or difficult. It was the first time I’d properly been told off on the internship, which didn’t feel great, but it was fair. I got there in the end and the final interview came together.

https://artworlddatabase.com/awdb-spotlight-interview-with-mella-jaarsma

I also did my first in-person interview this month with James Prapaithong. I went alone, which was a bit of a jump, but it ended up going well. Seeing the show in person helped, and I felt more confident during the interview itself. He was about my age which probably made it a bit easier. Writing it up afterwards was a lot more work than the email ones — getting everything edited and coherent took much longer — but it turned out well and felt like better practice overall.

https://artworlddatabase.com/awdb-spotlight-interview-with-james-prapaithong

I also picked up another feature with Plaster magazine, which I’ll be writing next month.

February

This month was really quiet for AWDB, which worked out well because it meant I could focus on my Plaster feature. I didn’t have any interviews to do for the site — they were being handled by someone in Singapore — so I had a bit of a break from that side of things.

It was a really nice month overall. I went out partying quite a bit, saw my friends a lot, and took a trip to Bristol.

The feature I was working on for Plaster is about the artist George Cayford. It’s written now but hasn’t been published yet. The interview process was quite difficult — he’s 94 and hard of hearing, so we had to do multiple sessions — but I think the final piece will be really strong. I’m happy it got picked up. I really like George’s work so it felt good to help get his name out there a bit more.

It also just felt good to get back to writing in a style I actually enjoy. I was proud of myself for pitching it and following it through. Plus I had a longer deadline this time, so the whole process was way less stressful.

March

The Plaster feature came out this month and my editors were really happy with it, which felt great. I was genuinely proud of how it turned out.

George Cayford: “I just drew for pleasure, absolute pleasure”

At AWDB, I kept going with website management and making sure everything was up to date. Things started to get a bit busier again with more events happening around Southeast Asian art.

I did my first interview with Citra Sasmita, who’s probably the biggest artist I’ve interviewed so far. It was stressful but I got to see her show at the Barbican and attend the press talk, which helped. The interview was in person, and I was really tired that day — I hadn’t prepared as well as I should have, which I felt bad about at the time. But in hindsight, it worked better than I expected.

https://artworlddatabase.com/awdb-spotlight-interview-with-citra-sasmita

There was also a last-minute change with someone who was supposed to cover another feature that month, so I had to step in and do a one-off piece just to fill the slot. It was fine — I worked well under pressure and got it done quickly.

https://artworlddatabase.com/awdb-spotlight-sovereign-asian-art-prize-2025

April/May

I’ve done two more interviews this month and I feel like I’m really getting into the groove now. Tanya and Sofia have trusted me a lot more to handle things on my own, which has been great.

I interviewed Israfil Ridhwan and Moses Tan, both queer artists. Israfil’s was really last minute, but he was flexible and worked well with my deadlines. For Moses, I got to do a studio visit and meet him in person, which was a great experience. I’m really starting to build some solid connections now.

https://artworlddatabase.com/awdb-spotlight-interview-with-israfil-ridhwan

https://artworlddatabase.com/awdb-spotlight-interview-with-moses-tan

I also did an interview with Htein Lin, though it’s not published yet. I was sent to Birmingham to see his show. His work is powerful — he was a political prisoner in Myanmar, and his art reflects that experience. The show was incredible. I got a tour from Melanie, the director of Ikon Gallery, which was really cool and gave me a lot of insight.

I’m happy that I have more control and responsibility now, but I do feel like it’s also coming with more pressure. I haven’t had much time to pitch my freelance ideas, which I think I should be doing if I want to build a bigger portfolio. I’ve got a lot of ideas that I feel could lead to something.

Now that I’m coming to the end of the DPS, I’m feeling good about what I’ve done. I’m nervous about next year at uni without my friends around, but this internship has been great. I think I’m way more confident than I was at the start of all this.

Joe Davies and a cohort of UAL Chelsea Fine Art (BA) students recently held the exhibition “In Memory of the Bread Child”. Each artist created a piece of work surrounding themes of maternity, emotion, and loss. In the centre of the exhibit was Joe’s sculpture: a figure crawling out of an oven, constructed near entirely out of bread dough. Memphis Maud featured in the exhibit with their wonderfully creepy performance art.

Q: This was your first exhibit; how challenging was it for you?

A: It was very challenging because I’m not used to putting my work on show. There’s loads of little things that you don’t know you need to do with an exhibition, I learnt a lot.

Q: What kind of little things?

A: Stuff like booking a venue… Also working as a team is something I haven’t done very often, so that was a challenge.

Q: Using bread as your main medium is unconventional, what prompted you to use it?

A: It was one of my lecturers. In one of their pieces they used gingerbread men. I thought it was interesting, I hadn’t seen it before. I also like the idea that it’s not permanent, that it’ll eventually rot and die; it’s an interesting dynamic to play with.

Q: What were the main difficulties you faced using bread?

A: It was quite time-consuming to make. The fact that it rots and smells caused some discomfort.

Q: I’m guessing you’re a bit sick of bread at this point?

A: Yeah, I’m going to take a break from it for now!

Q: Memphis’ interactive performance art was a highlights of the show, as they paraded the space and expressed ritualistic actions. How did the idea for “Mother Grub” come about?

A: It was Memphis who came up with the idea. I knew that we wanted performance art; we initially constructed an outfit constructed of bread loaves, but we found the pieces were difficult to wear and broke. So, we went with the idea of a hag covered in dough instead. I don’t think their performance was too planned, it was very raw and improvised, playing into what the audience was doing.

Q: What was the reception like?

A: It went well! People seemed to enjoy it, and I overheard some people saying they were scared which I really liked.