National Art Gallery (Balai Seni Negara), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Photos by Aaron Wong & David Yeow
Life in a longtang compound is noisy, messy, and intimate. On a typical morning, you would see locals gathered in these cramped alleys, chattering and gossiping about their children or grandchildren, while vendors are seen selling vegetables or second-hand items on mats. In the afternoons, residents can be seen cooking, hand-washing laundry, or playing mahjong with their neighbors. Lots of laundries would be hung off bamboo poles overhead. Life there felt like an almost village-like neighborhood. I loved it.
Longtangs are quickly disappearing in the face of modernity. This installation attempts to recreate my memories of living there while addressing impermanence, tradition, and urbanization. I have used old clothing, bamboo poles and red calligraphy paper as my main materials. Laundry is a sign of life, an indication of the type of residence that lives in these spaces. These old clothes allude to residences which may often be overlooked in the drive towards urban development.
The eight artworks on display were created with burnt red calligraphy paper, a material I began using this year. I referenced actual photos that I took while living in Shanghai to tell stories of people and places that are important to me. I hope that through these artworks, visitors will get to experience a glimpse of relationships that are the most intimate and important to me, and the complex longing and confusion I still feel today while reflecting on what led my family to migrate to Malaysia right at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.
National Art Gallery (Balai Seni Negara), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Photos by Aaron Wong & David Yeow
Life in a longtang compound is noisy, messy, and intimate. On a typical morning, you would see locals gathered in these cramped alleys, chattering and gossiping about their children or grandchildren, while vendors are seen selling vegetables or second-hand items on mats. In the afternoons, residents can be seen cooking, hand-washing laundry, or playing mahjong with their neighbors. Lots of laundries would be hung off bamboo poles overhead. Life there felt like an almost village-like neighborhood. I loved it.
Longtangs are quickly disappearing in the face of modernity. This installation attempts to recreate my memories of living there while addressing impermanence, tradition, and urbanization. I have used old clothing, bamboo poles and red calligraphy paper as my main materials. Laundry is a sign of life, an indication of the type of residence that lives in these spaces. These old clothes allude to residences which may often be overlooked in the drive towards urban development.
The eight artworks on display were created with burnt red calligraphy paper, a material I began using this year. I referenced actual photos that I took while living in Shanghai to tell stories of people and places that are important to me. I hope that through these artworks, visitors will get to experience a glimpse of relationships that are the most intimate and important to me, and the complex longing and confusion I still feel today while reflecting on what led my family to migrate to Malaysia right at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.
