What we call art in all its forms – painting, sculpture, drawing and engraving – appeared in human groups all over the world in the period known as the Upper Paleolithic, which is roughly from 40,000 to 10,000 years ago. Since then, painting has changed in essence very little. Supports evolved from rock faces, through the walls of buildings, to portable ones of paper, wood, and finally cloth, particularly canvas. The range of pigments expanded through a wide range of earths and minerals, to plant extracts and modern synthetic colours. Pigments have been mixed with water and gum to make paint, but in the fifteenth century in Europe the innovation of using oil (linseed) produced a newly flexible and durable medium that played a major part in the explosion of creativity in Western painting at the Renaissance and after. At the same time subject matter expanded to embrace almost every aspect of life.

The term palimpsest is used to refer to any writing material that is altered or recycled to use it more than once. In the ancient ages, writing materials were rare, therefore the writings on manuscripts and other objects or writing surfaces were effaced by washing, scraping, or erasing the original text in order to reuse it. In the early days, palimpsest was used as part of recycling. Palimpsests often reveal the history of an object or a painting as they often include erased marks/visible traces of previous work. A close observation of traditional paintings may reveal different layers and the changes made to the original work. AWDB highlighted artist: Anida Yoeu Ali in her 2009 performance ‘Palimpsest for Generation 1.5’. Source: www.yundle.com  

Participatory art is a term that describes a form of art that directly engages the audience in the creative process so that they become participants in the event. In this respect, the artist is seen as a collaborator and a co-producer of the situation (with the audience), and these situations can often have an unclear beginning or end. AWDB highlighted artist: Melati Suryodarmo. Source: tate.org.uk

The word patina usually refers to a distinct green or brown surface layer on bronze sculpture. Patina can be created naturally by the oxidising effect of the atmosphere or weather, or artificially by the application of chemicals. AWDB highlighted artist: Zulkifli Lee. Source: tate.org.uk

Art in which the medium in the artist’s own body and the artwork takes the form of actions performed by the artist. Performance art has origins in Futurism and Dada, but became a major phenomenon in the 1960s and 1970s and can be seen as a branch of Conceptual art. In Germany and Austria it was known as Actionism. An important influence on the emergence of Performance art was the photographs of the Abstract Expressionist painter Jackson Pollock making his so-called action paintings, taken in 1950 by the photographer Hans Namuth. Performance art had its immediate origins in the more overtly theatrical happenings organized by Allan Kaprow and others in New York in the late 1950s. By the mid-1960s this theatrical element was being stripped out by early Performance artists such as Vito Acconci and Bruce Nauman. In Europe, the German artist Joseph Beuys was a hugely influential pioneer of Performance art, making a wide impact with his ‘actions’ from 1963 on. These were powerful expressions of the pain of human existence, and complex allegories of social and political issues and man’s relationship to nature. In Britain, the artist duo Gilbert & George made highly original performance works from 1969. A major problem for early Performance artists was the ephemeral nature of the medium. Right from the start Performance pieces were recorded in photography, film and video, and these eventually became the primary means by which Performance reached a wide public.

Photography refers to the process or practice of creating a photograph – an image produced by the action of light on a light-sensitive material. The word photograph was coined in 1839 by Sir John Herschel and is based on the Greek word ‘phos’, meaning ‘light’, and ‘graphê’, meaning ‘drawing’ – so 'drawing with light'. A photograph can be either a positive or negative image. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus an object’s visible wavelengths (the light reflected or emitted from it) into a reproduction on a light-sensitive surface of what the human eye would see. AWDB highlighted artist: Robert Zhao Renhui. Source: tate.org.uk  

A portrait is a representation of a particular person. A self-portrait is a portrait of the artist by the artist. Portraiture is a very old art form going back at least to ancient Egypt, where it flourished from about 5,000 years ago. Before the invention of photography, a painted, sculpted, or drawn portrait was the only way to record the appearance of someone. AWDB highlighted artist: Andres Barrioquinto. Source: tate.org.uk

Postcolonial art refers to art produced in response to the aftermath of colonial rule, frequently addressing issues of national and cultural identity, race and ethnicity. Source: tate.org.uk. AWDB highlighted artist: Sinta Tantra.

The term refers to the ways in which an artist goes about their work. Artistic practice goes beyond the physical activities of making artistic products and can include influences, ideas, materials as well as tools and skills. Source: tate.org.uk. AWDB highlighted artist: Geraldine Lim.

A work of art on paper that usually exists in multiple copies. It is created not by drawing directly on paper, but through a transfer process. The artist begins by creating a composition on another surface, such as metal or wood, and the transfer occurs when that surface is inked and a sheet of paper, placed in contact with it, is run through a printing press. Four common printmaking techniques are woodcut, etching, lithography, and screenprint. Source: Moma.org. AWDB Highlighted artist: Maharani Mancanagara 

Printmaking is the process of transferring images from a medium onto another surface such as paper or fabric. Printing presses were mainly established by European colonists who spread the practice throughout Southeast Asia. Introducing Western printing methods such as letterpress printing and lithography, authorities distributed official government information and Christian beliefs throughout the general population. Modern artists have expanded available techniques to include screenprinting. Sources: BiblioAsia from the National Library Singapore and the AWDB team. AWDB highlighted organisation: STPI Creative Workshop and Gallery 

Public art is artwork that is in the public realm, regardless of whether it is situated on public or private property or whether it has been purchased with public or private money. Usually, but not always, the art has been commissioned specifically for the site in which it is situated (site-specific). Monuments, memorials and civic statues and sculptures are the most established forms of public art, but public art can also be transitory, in the form of performances, dance, theatre, poetry, graffiti, posters, street art and installations. Public art can often be used as a political tool, like the propaganda posters and statues of the Soviet Union (agit-prop) or the murals painted by the Ulster Unionists in Northern Ireland. Public art can also be a form of civic protest, as in the graffiti sprayed on the sides of New York Subway trains in the 1980s.