ASEAN has, since its inception, done much to facilitate people-to-people exchange in the arts sector across Southeast Asia to encourage dialogue and debate. This unique space for artistic discourse that allowed for pluralistic notions of what constituted a regional artistic identity and aesthetic is one of ASEAN’s great legacies and is widely discussed, researched, and acknowledged by a new generation of art historians and curators. In the last 15 years ASEAN relinquished this role – an important aspect of its community building aspirations in the arts sector – allowing the proliferation of Asian biennales, art fairs, and maturing cultural institutions to serve this function in its stead.

As the post-Cold War reality of a new world has taken shape and formed new directions and conversations, ASEAN will re-enter the contemporary art space via collaborative efforts between various ASEAN bodies. KONNECT ASEAN is a development project supported by the Republic of Korea and will serve as the ASEAN Foundation’s core arts and cultural programme. KONNECT ASEAN signals both an eagerness by ASEAN to revitalise its once integral role in contemporary visual arts and South Korea’s sincerity in establishing closer ties with ASEAN.

The programme will celebrate Southeast Asian arts using different platforms e.g. exhibitions, educational outreach, community arts workshops and exhibits, and printed and digital documentation, and in the process explore and discuss social, political, economic, and environmental issues in the region. The artists' works and activities will engage and strengthen the public's understanding of ASEAN. Furthermore, the programme intends to connect with the three major stakeholder groups of government, business, and civil society to achieve the vision of an ASEAN Community. Outcomes will provide permanent resources recording why ASEAN matters and its ongoing contribution to the region's growth, prosperity, and stability.