Category: ABOUT
ABOUT Kai and this website. Email me kai AT kaisyngtan DOT com.
Introducing the Ill-Disciplined Hyperactive Productive Antagonist Octopussy Dr Kai Syng Tan FRSA SFHEA.
Gallery of commissioners, clients, groups, media & organisations in & beyond research, HE, creative & cultural sectors, governmental departments & more that I’ve worked with, in Iceland, Ireland, Tokyo, NY, London, Dumaguete, Singapore & more.
What clients, critics, commissioners, managers, mentees, friends & foes say about my work.
3 interdisciplinary Fine Art degrees (London, Chicago, Tokyo) and other professional qualifications (classical music, leadership and coaching, art-science, psychiatry, mental health, technology and more)
Highlights of career since aged 4; list of 10 fully-funded international artist-in-residency awards and artworks in 13 permanent/public collections.
>17 current pro bono affiliations as founder, chair or member to UK, European and international NGOs and professional organisations and collectives across creativity, culture, health, social justice and more.
>100 invited / curated keynotes and conferences, including at Sao Paulo, Association of American Geographers Annual Conference in Chicago, University of Oxford and Museum of Sydney.
Volunteering in >16 roles outside of my specialism since 1990’s in Singapore, London, Manchester and more. Winning Excellence Award as London Ambassador 2012 during the London Olympics.
Since 2003, worked in >10 roles as curator / creative research lead, with budget £0 – £4m, in Napidaw (Myanmar), Tokyo, Paris, Cardiff, Leeds, Kuopio (Finland), Israel and Singapore.
Joined Manchester School of Art as Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for interdisciplinary Creative Arts Leadership MA. Member of DVC’s Academic Advisory Group and PVC Education’s National Teaching Fellowship panel. EDI lead/co-lead for Department and University in Race Equality. 4 interdisciplinary / practice-led PhD Supervision.
4 post-doctoral roles (2014-2019) leading innovative projects, facilitating the research of others as mentor, and crafting inclusive pathways for new areas that generated ripple effects for researchers and publics involved.
>14 solo shows or major showcases (including Biennale of Sydney, Guangzhou Triennale); >100 invited shows (including with Yayoi Kusama at Sung Kok Art Museum in Korea and a performance at Pompidou), >150 showcases in film festivals (including MOMA New York, Transmediale Festival), three interventions in theatre (including a nomination for Vagina Monologues).
>30 Consultancy and interdisciplinary KE roles, including as Reviewer, Expert Panel member with the Icelandic Research Fund, Media Authority of Singapore (2007-2012), Unlimited (Disability Arts) and University of California interdisciplinary journal.
Taught in >200 HEIs since 1998 as Examiner, Pathway Leader, Lecturer, Tutor, Visiting Lecturer, Visiting Artist, including at: UCL School of Life & Medical Studies, Royal College of Art, Australia National University, Tama Art University (Tokyo), King’s Undergraduate Medical Education Community, Goldsmiths University, SIM University in Singapore (External Examiner, Bachelor of Art Education), Silliman University (Philippines) and University of Helsinki.
11 peer-reviewed journal articles, 7 book chapters, 10 books/edited volumes, 37 op-eds, reviews, catalogue entries and more on professional & popular platforms.
>37 citations in peer-reviewed journal articles, PhD theses, >100 citations in art catalogues and >100 media engagement, including in EU-funded film watched 40K times, Art It (Japanese art journal), BBC Radio, Times Higher Education.
Want to work with me? Here’s how.
I am (co-)founder, (co-)leader, trustee, consultant, co-leader or member of 20 national and international networks and organisations in research, arts, health, and human rights.
03/2020: Keen to explore the messy and magical entanglements between neurodiversity, creativity and research, and all the possibilities and intersections in between? Join the Neurodiversity In/And Creative Research Network, a new international hub.
JOIN NOW! I co-founded and manage the Running Cultures Research Group in 2014 which has been key in helping to widening and advancing the emerging ‘Running Studies as an arts and humanities discourse.