BERITA HARIAN
PRESS RELEASE
9 'current generation' Malay artists invite you to a Ramadhan fast breaking
buffet on the dusk of 14 November 2003 at The Substation on 45 Armenian Street.
This buffet is part of Berita Harian, an exhibition curated by artist Khairuddin
Hori and co-presented by The Substation. Berita Harian, translated Daily News,
is a rare presentation of young and active practicing Singaporean Malay artists.
These artists will put forward their explication of news and issues persistent,
current and significant through their various genres of practice.
Amongst the works showing at Berita Harian are; 'ReDiscovery Channel', a
computer generated 'animation teaser advertisement trailer' by Ridzuan Saari,
'DE-stress kapa', a site-specific de-stressing sound installation in The
Substation's toilets by Zulkifle Mahmod and 'Window Shopping', a CCTV
installation showing real-time events inside various pockets of The Substation
by Harman Hussin.
As clichéd as any gathering of Malay artists can be, Berita Harian however
promises to be a landmark event in the history of local art development. This is
also the first time that 9 current generation contemporary Malay artists are
working together on one show. The exhibition provides a chance for the public
and the local art community to view the opinions, statements and psyche of this
'current generation' of contemporary Malay talents.
Witness Berita Harian because it is NEWS on current state of contemporary Malay
art
Event:
Berita Harian
Exhibition of 9 'current generation' Malay artists featuring installations,
sound installations, computer animation and video art.
Curator:
Khairuddin Hori
Assistant Curator:
Harman Hussin
Co-Presenter:
The Substation
Dates:
Opening, 14 November 2003, 7pm
Exhibition, 15-29 November 2003, 11 am - 9 pm daily
Exhibition closed on 25 November 2003 (public holiday)
Venue:
The Substation Gallery
45 Armenian Street
Participating Artists:
Juliana Yasin
Zulkifle Mahmod
Harman Hussin
Khairuddin Hori
Ridzuan Saari
Gene Sha Rudyn
Ismail Ishak
Rizman Putra
Sukaimi Sukri
Fore/Mid/After Words
by Audrey Wong
Audrey Wong
Fore/Mid/After Words
A few months ago, two of the artists in the Berita Harian exhibition, Zulkifle
Mahmod and Rizman Putra, performed leading roles in a film/video essay by Ho Tzu
Nyen, "Utama". In this film, Zul performed the role of Sang Nila Utama, the
mythical royal founder of Singapore, and Rizman performed the role of Utama's
court jester. (I use the word "perform" because they were not "playing" roles in
the manner of conventional film actors.) Among other things, "Utama" was a
reflection on the construction of history, myth and icon, the artifice of
representation, and the otherness of the past. The film was narrated in Malay
with English translation, featured Malay and Chinese actors, and was made by a
Chinese artist. By doing so, and by playing up the artifice of the narration and
imagery, the film defamiliarised the story/myth/fable from our own backyard and
asks what relevance this myth has to our own time. And how Singaporean is Utama,
how Malay is Utama? How do we claim him or the myth of him? Do we want to?
Berita Harian, similarly, deals with these issues of past and
present/traditional and contemporary, and draws attention to the ways in which
we construct our present, which in turn influence the construction of history.
What is today's news soon becomes history. This implies that we need to be
careful and responsible in writing today's news, and this is where issues of
representation come into play. Apart from "reporting" news - we know there is no
such thing as objective journalism - the newspaper also plays a major role in
constructing representations of its community/ies, who see themselves reflected
back in the stories and articles carried in the paper. Each newspaper imagines
what its constituents are and what they want to read, thereby constructing its
readers even as it constructs a picture of the current state of affairs.
In my conversations with Khairuddin Hori over the years, he has been a source of
information for me on the Malay community/ies. I feel myself excluded from much
of this community/ies even though I have Malay friends and watch Malay theatre;
the main reason, I believe, is the language barrier. I cannot read Berita Harian,
the Malay paper, and see for myself what the construction of the readership is
or how they represent Malay people and culture. One of things Khairuddin talked
about in preparing for this exhibition was how 'art' is not given importance in
the Malay media and how 'art' is often equated with 'entertainment' in the
media. This does not sound too dissimilar from the way that the local English
press deals with art. Khai also asked, "who are the significant Malay artists in
Singapore and how are they recognized, if at all?" We came up with a few names,
whom Khai noted are recognized as "Singapore artists", not "Malay artists". Are
these distinctions important or necessary? Do we talk about "famous Chinese
artists" or "famous Indian artists"? Who is claiming who? It's the Utama
question again.
Khai also spoke to me once about how the Malay press liked to present successful
Malays as role models for the community and how, as an artist, he wanted to
resist this stereotype. (He, Rizman and Zul were all featured a few months ago
in Berita Harian). Artists cannot avoid the process of representation by the
media. You want to be featured in the media in order to get more audiences for
your work, but how can you negotiate the representation of yourself or your work
in the media? The rules of negotiation often do not favour artists, especially
in a country not known for its diversity of voices in the media.
The artists deal with issues of identity, representation, the intersection of
communities, and deliberately play with ethnic stereotypes. While advertising
itself as an exhibition by young Malay artists, the artists know that their
guests and visitors will not be mainly Malay. They would normally also resist
identifying themselves as "Malay artists", preferring to describe themselves as
contemporary artists living and working in Singapore.
While the artists deal to a certain extent with the "Malay identity" in the
works in this exhibition, they do so without referring greatly to traditional
markers of Malay ethnicity - craft and folk art, for instance, preferring the
conceptual route. The artists have all chosen to use new media and technology,
which, as Khai pointed out to me, turns on its head the stereotype that Malays
are less "advanced" compared to the other ethnic groups in Singapore.
The image on the invitation card captures some of the ideas percolating among
the artists in this exhibition: two monuments near the mouth of the Singapore
River, a location redolent with history. (Didn't Sang Nila Utama also encounter
some adventures at this location?) One old monument is juxtaposed against a new
one that now overshadows it. The war memorial, erected in colonial days, is
almost a forgotten landmark; the spiky durian roof of the Esplanade arts center,
Singapore's new centerpiece trumpeting its arrival (or so its builders hope)
among the first league of nations. What was once news is history. As cultural
beings, how do we deal with the knowledge that what is new will soon be old or
forgotten? How do we construct today's events into news that is meaningful to us
as people and as a society? How can we ensure a just representation to the
future of who we are, or is that at all possible?
The perspective of the image suggests a resistance to dominant ideology.
Colonialism constructs the subjects ruled by the more powerful nation; a large,
mainstream venue has the power to construct a definition of 'art' for the
people. The exhibition Berita Harian, it appears, practises a strategy of
resistance, opening up questions, playing with stereotypes, and accommodating
the diversity of 10 individuals.
Audrey Wong
The Substation
October 2003
One final word: the timing of the exhibition dates with Ramadhan is not
deliberate. These were the only available dates in The Substation Gallery this
year. Coincidence? It's certainly given the exhibition a news angle.
