Tides that Bind: On Senses
Curatorial Statement
by Lead Curator Wendy Teo
In the fourth chapter of “Myth and Meaning,” Lévi-Strauss describes a phenomenon that fills us with wonder. A tribal group he encountered could see Venus under the full daylight. Centuries earlier, European sailors possessed the same ability during navigation. Lévi-Strauss concluded, “We would have been able to see them if we had the trained eye.”
What have we lost by not seeing the light of Venus? The ability to distinguish medicine from weeds, to hear the messages animals try to remind us of, and to comprehend our dreams, which were once seen as portals to ancestral knowledge.
We gather in Kuching for “Tides That Bind: On Senses,” where tides synchronize sentiments through workshops, film screenings, exhibitions, and sharing sessions. Our years of research, conducted with partners throughout Southeast Asia, inform this event. From April 28th to May 7th, we take a break from our capitalistic routine to explore the senses, ancestral wisdom, and narratives that surround us.
Join us, like-minded individuals, in this special event to rediscover our connection to nature and the knowledge of our ancestors. Let us embrace the beauty and wonder of our world, where the light of Venus still shines for those who have the trained eye to see.
Location: First Floor, The Flow Gallery
Time & Date: 14:00-18:00, 29th of April, 2023
Ticket: Early Bird 40 MYR, At the Door 50 MYR
In this workshop, we will allow our listening to drive creative and tactile interactions with common daily objects and materials brought along by the participants. Through experimentation and play we will discover sonic possibilities and develop techniques to perform them as instruments. Understanding some basic principles about conventional instruments, such as the role of resonance and vibration transfer, will help us produce more satisfying sounds. We will look at examples of contemporary sound artists and consider questions about ‘playability’, control and improvisation. Using various microphones, we will explore ‘micro-sounds’ and vibrations outside of our usual perceptual field.
To test out our workshop learnings, we will conclude by attempting to construct a group collaborative instrument with locally available materials.
Co-curator: Wendy Teo & Wei Ling Hung
Sound Engineer: Nigel Brown
Project Manager: Tham Chung Seng
Writer: Wendi Sia
Visual Designer: Toni Giddings
Sound Exhibition: 28th of April - 7th of May, 2023
Exhibition Tour: 14:00-15:00, 30 of April - 1 of May, 2023
Ticket: Early Bird 15 MYR, At the Door 20 MYR
Talk Session: 15:00-16:00, 30th of April, 2023 [Free]
Big Trip- Tracking New Connections is a curatorial research project tracking new connections to the rooted practices and ancestral wisdoms around the world and linking them to a plural web that supports a more holistic global narrative. Through our own journey of Big Trip, we are blessed to learn about ancestral wisdom from communities around the world that we think need to be heard by the world. In this sound exhibition, we will work closely with our sound engineer Nigel Brown to present the sound footages we recorded and obtained from different communities.
*Image courtesy of Toni Giddings’ Big Trip’s visual direction exploration
Exhibition: 28th of April - 7th of May, 2023
Ticket: Free
Since 2022, Borneo Laboratory and Feng Chia University collaborate on the workshop to explore on this model that involves community, academic and industry. Since March, the workshop has been incorporated as one of the credit course in the university.
The exhibition will feature the work in progress production from 2023 and workshop outcome from 2022.
*Image courtesy of 2022 Betterment Laboratory’s production
Exhibition: 28th of April, 2023
Film Screening and Q&A with Film Editor Asa Esa Production group and Project Curator Wendy Teo
Time & Date: 20:00-21:00, 28th of April, 2023
Ticket: Early Bird 15 MYR, At the Door 20 MYR
“Before the colonial governments came, we used to be Serumpun.” This was stated by Sujianto, the Ketua Kampong of Sekida Village in Jagoi Babang during our pan-Borneo research trip, to visit the communities we work with.
“Serumpun” means a bundle of grass that shares the same root. In this project, “serumpun” helps us convey how knowledge, wisdom and material cultures in craft across the borders of Kalimantan, Sarawak and Sabah connect together as a wider ecosystem. Today craft communities across South East Asia are facing a range of complex challenges. From climate change to increased youth migration, there is the need to find new ways to protect craft as a ‘cultural asset’ to pass onto future generations.
The Film Screening event is a showcase of films shot during the Pan Borneo Research roadtrip with 12 communities around Borneo.
Location: Main Hall
Performance 1: 20:00-21:00, 29th of April, 2023
Performance 2: 20:00-21:00, 30th of April, 2023
Ticket: Early Bird 60 MYR, At the Door 80 MYR
Drawing from the meaning of the collective’s name, 山門, which is literally translated as “the mountain door” and also refers to the entrance of a temple on a mountain, “To the Mountain” depicts a voyage presented as a triptych, bringing out the metaphorical idea of a transient state that is constantly searching to go beyond the mundane.
During this performance, we will explore music composition and improvisation using DAW, acoustic music instruments, lyrical poetry, and tea ceremony to contemplate the human experience that exists within oneself and how it alters and evolves within the surrounding environment.
Shaman Tearoom: Aiwei Foo & Kent Lee
List of Films:
Kray Chen - 5 rehearsals of a wedding
Joanne Lim - Double Gazing
Hilmi Johandi - Stagehands
Jonathan Liu - Every Horizon (2023)
Hazel Lim - Various Foliage
Victoria Hertel - Scent
Guest curator: Adeline Kueh, with 6 films
Screening + Q&A post screening with curator & artists
Time & Date: 19:00-21:00, 1st of May, 2023
Ticket: Early Bird 15 MYR, At the Door 20 MYR
senses: LASALLE Moving Image Series
A series of 6 moving images from the McNally School of Fine Arts, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore
The selection of shorts by guest curator Adeline Kueh in the moving image segment of the exhibition includes one narrative short and five experimental short videos from the MA Fine Arts & BA Fine Arts alumni of the McNally School of Fine Arts, LASALLE College of the Arts.
From rituals of a wedding to the entanglement of human with nature and the non-human, as well as the human-machine interactions, the six artists have responded to their everyday observations in poetic and embodied ways.
*Image courtesy of Joanne Lim, with intervention, 2023.
