Dapunta Hyang

source: chooailoonwordpress

Singapore artist Zai Kuning has long been researching and learning about the Orang Laut (sea gypsies) in Indonesian seas and coastal areas that have inspired his creation of many artworks, from mark making to installations. His study led him to a wider knowledge of the sea community as well as the history of the pre-Islamic Malay world prior to the 13th century.

His recent participation in Art Basel Hong Kong 2015 adds to the list of exhibitions at where his marine series of works are showcased. Amazed by the story of ambitious Malay king Dapunta Hyang Jayanasa (Srivijaya empire, 7th-13th century) conquering numerous important straits within what is now known as Southeast Asia, the artist has imagined how a 7th-century ship was ‘a house of knowledge and a dungeon of death and torture’

Entitled Dapunta Hyang (Transmission of Knowledge) and presented by Ota Fine Arts, Zai Kuning’s artwork at the Hong Kong show is a large-scale installation mainly made up of rattan (rattan cane) and old yellowish books completely sealed in wax, never to be opened and read again, perhaps referring to lost stories and histories of the long-gone? So how is knowledge going to be transmitted then?

It is an intricate and intriguing hull of a ship, “hovering” in the air, yet “weighed down” by rock-looking features hung to its bottom, with a pile of wax-wrapped old books on the ground just beneath the ship skeleton.

Otherwise, you may also like to see a similarly-themed installation by Zai Kuning at Palais de Tokyo at 13, avenue du Président Wilson, 75 116 Paris, France, from now till 17th May 2015. At the same exhibition, Secret Archipelago, you can also discover contemporary artworks by other Southeast Asian artists, such as Ahmad Abu Bakar, Le Brothers, Tran Luong, Svay Sareth, Angie Seah, Lee Wen, and Anida Yoeu Ali.
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source: otafinearts

ZAI KUNING was born in 1964 in Singapore, and now lives and works in Johor, Malaysia. Having worked with an array of sculpture, installation, painting and drawing, experimental sound and music, video, flm, performance art, dance and theatre for more than two decades, Kuning resists convenient categorical claims to his art-making. Multi-disciplinary and improvisational art practice has always been important to him. Today he is considered one of the most versatile artists working in the region, and is at the forefront of avant-garde practice in Singapore.

Upon graduation in 1989 from LASALLE College of the Arts with a major in ceramic sculpture, Kuning was selected as the direct disciple of Sultan Alisjahbana (Bali) to study literature and rituals. Thereafter, he lived in The Artist Village (TAV), an artist colony founded by Tang Da Wu, and was nominated the first president of TAV. It was during this time that Kuning extensively explored the arena of performance art, under the guidance of Tang.

Connected closely with his interest in the body, Kuning’s visual artwork was focused on the “tortured body”. He explored the possibilities between sculpture, sound, and performance, often creating wax objects. In 1996, his work “The Body” was selected to be part of “The 2nd Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art” in Brisbane, and the following year his work was shown at the Art Gallery of New South Wales alongside European masters such as Francis Bacon and Egon Shiele as part of a large exhibition entitled “BODY”.

Quickly, Kuning’s interest moved towards physical movement and language related to Southeast Asian rituals. After departing from TAV, he formed Metabolic Theatre Laboratory (MTL), a research-oriented dance theatre company, during a residency at The Substation. Many memorable productions of MTL toured Hong Kong and Korea in 2000. During this time, he also performed throughout Singapore and Japan, collaborating with artists such as bassist and composer Tetsu Saitoh and the late dancer Motofuji Akiko.

After MTL disbanded in 2001, Kuning pursued his own work as a soloist, focusing on drawings, music and research on Melayu history and the Orang Laut, “sea gypsies” who are indigenous to the Riau Archipelago. His journeys throughout the archipelago inspired him to create a series of drawings titled “Brutality of Fact”; a collection of original acoustic guitar compositions; a novel titled “Segantang Lada” (translated to “a bunch of a chilies”); and most notably the short film “RIAU”. In 2005, the film was screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Busan International Film Festival and at “The 3rd Fukuoka Asian Art Triennial”.

Due to health reasons, Kuning gradually stopped visiting the Riau Islands from 2007 and focused on his music and visual arts practice. As a musician, he has embraced all forms of music from classical Ghazal music, traditional Melayu Asli music, punk, sound art to experimental noise, and has collaborated with diverse musicians, dancers and sound artists from Singapore, Japan and China.

During this time, Kuning was also active in producing visual artworks which were rooted in social concerns. In 2008, he was commissioned by The Sculpture Square to create a work for its 10th Anniversary. “A BOWL OF RICE” saw three massive drawings using 1000 kilos of rice, which was later distributed to a non-governmental organisation that aids domestic helpers in Singapore. The artist’s participation in the Singapore Biennale in 2011 involved a proposal to renew The Substation’s garden space as an arts space for a period of one month.

Currently, Zai Kuning is focusing on a 5-year project to produce work and research on the first Melayu King, Dapunta Hyang Jayenasa, to uncover the pre-Islamic arts and culture of the Melayu people.
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source: otafinearts

ZAI KUNING was born in 1964 in Singapore, and now lives and works in Johor, Malaysia. Having worked with an array of sculpture, installation, painting and drawing, experimental sound and music, video, flm, performance art, dance and theatre for more than two decades, Kuning resists convenient categorical claims to his art-making. Multi-disciplinary and improvisational art practice has always been important to him. Today he is considered one of the most versatile artists working in the region, and is at the forefront of avant-garde practice in Singapore.

Upon graduation in 1989 from LASALLE College of the Arts with a major in ceramic sculpture, Kuning was selected as the direct disciple of Sultan Alisjahbana (Bali) to study literature and rituals. Thereafter, he lived in The Artist Village (TAV), an artist colony founded by Tang Da Wu, and was nominated the first president of TAV. It was during this time that Kuning extensively explored the arena of performance art, under the guidance of Tang.

Connected closely with his interest in the body, Kuning’s visual artwork was focused on the “tortured body”. He explored the possibilities between sculpture, sound, and performance, often creating wax objects. In 1996, his work “The Body” was selected to be part of “The 2nd Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art” in Brisbane, and the following year his work was shown at the Art Gallery of New South Wales alongside European masters such as Francis Bacon and Egon Shiele as part of a large exhibition entitled “BODY”.

Quickly, Kuning’s interest moved towards physical movement and language related to Southeast Asian rituals. After departing from TAV, he formed Metabolic Theatre Laboratory (MTL), a research-oriented dance theatre company, during a residency at The Substation. Many memorable productions of MTL toured Hong Kong and Korea in 2000. During this time, he also performed throughout Singapore and Japan, collaborating with artists such as bassist and composer Tetsu Saitoh and the late dancer Motofuji Akiko.

After MTL disbanded in 2001, Kuning pursued his own work as a soloist, focusing on drawings, music and research on Melayu history and the Orang Laut, “sea gypsies” who are indigenous to the Riau Archipelago. His journeys throughout the archipelago inspired him to create a series of drawings titled “Brutality of Fact”; a collection of original acoustic guitar compositions; a novel titled “Segantang Lada” (translated to “a bunch of a chilies”); and most notably the short film “RIAU”. In 2005, the film was screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Busan International Film Festival and at “The 3rd Fukuoka Asian Art Triennial”.

Due to health reasons, Kuning gradually stopped visiting the Riau Islands from 2007 and focused on his music and visual arts practice. As a musician, he has embraced all forms of music from classical Ghazal music, traditional Melayu Asli music, punk, sound art to experimental noise, and has collaborated with diverse musicians, dancers and sound artists from Singapore, Japan and China.

During this time, Kuning was also active in producing visual artworks which were rooted in social concerns. In 2008, he was commissioned by The Sculpture Square to create a work for its 10th Anniversary. “A BOWL OF RICE” saw three massive drawings using 1000 kilos of rice, which was later distributed to a non-governmental organisation that aids domestic helpers in Singapore. The artist’s participation in the Singapore Biennale in 2011 involved a proposal to renew The Substation’s garden space as an arts space for a period of one month.

Currently, Zai Kuning is focusing on a 5-year project to produce work and research on the first Melayu King, Dapunta Hyang Jayenasa, to uncover the pre-Islamic arts and culture of the Melayu people.
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source: sodftumblr

Koichi Shimizu is a sound and multimedia artist and also event organizer located in Bangkok Thailand. Born in Japan 1972, studied sound engineering in New York from 1991 to 1993. Shimizu moved to Bangkok in 2003. Shimizu has wide range of work he’s been involved with, which include music composition and sound design for films/TV commercials, multimedia art installation, live performance. He is also running independent record label.

As a sound designer and music composer for film, Shimizu has worked with 3 international award winner directors, Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Aditya Assarat, film include Pen-ek Ratanaruang’s Invisible Waves, Ploy, Nymph, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Syndromes and a Century and Aditya Assarat’s Wonderful Town. His latest work is Apichatpong’s Uncle Boonmee who can recall his past lives, film won Palme d’Or at 2010’s Cannes film festival. Shimizu also won Best Composer award from music score for Nymph at 2010’s Dubai International Film Festival.

In 2008, Shimizu opened art space/gallery called SOL (Space of Liberty) to support local young artists and musicians by showing exhibition and organizing small concert. Shimizu constantly host Max/MSP workshop at this space.