Five books Asia Art Archive co-founder couldn’t live without – Claire Hsu’s must-reads for a desert island
Hsu’s list includes a book that required her to undo all the patterns she had learned growing up, one she dips into whenever she needs a little moment of magic, and an archive of material from a female artist who died too young
Claire Hsu is co-founder and executive director of the Asia Art Archive, an independent charity founded in 2000 to document and make accessible the history of contemporary art in Asia. She is also a member of the acquisitions committee and board of Hong Kong’s M+ museum, and serves on the board of the Foundation for Arts Initiatives, an international grant-making body.
Here are the five books she would take to a desert island, in her own words.
Amrita Sher-Gil: A Self-Portrait in Letters and Writings
edited by Vivan Sundaram, 2010
Produced in two hefty volumes, this is an archive of the letters, images and writings by the artist Amrita Sher-Gil, who was born in 1912 and died young in 1941. She is recognised as one of the most important Indian artists of the 20th century. I received this book as a gift from Amrita’s nephew, Vivan – he was a guest speaker at the Asia Art Archive about four years ago.