Artworks are a type of witness to an era. Real world occurrences have been recorded in pictures and images, and communicated to future generations. This exhibition highlights 21 works by artists who have conveyed the realities of colonial rule, war and events that have embroiled countless individuals.
For over 20 years, Wong Hoy Cheong has been working on a series of artworks which focus on the experience of his father as a young boy, who was held captive by the Japanese Army under the Japanese occupation in Malaysia. As a sequel to his work “Sook Ching (The Purge)” in 1989, which expresses the tragedy of war point-blank, the artist created “Doghole,” a film work utilizing reality-based fictional images and animation. Through this piece, the artist attempted to uncover stories hidden behind the intricate politics in history and to make his way deep into the multi-layered truth. Ly Daravuth created his work “The Messenger” compiled from historical records under the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia. His work tells us that historical documentations and even the history would be artificially manipulated, not to reflect the truth. And Higa Toyomitsu and Yamashiro Chikako, both based in Okinawa, look at the reality of Okinawa, which is continually being tossed about by the war, the occupation and the United States Army bases and is never confined to the past, in their own perspectives and the different viewpoints by generation.
These artists’ approach to modern history from their present standing points reveal their wills and attempts that art has to make a lasting impression on viewers, not merely record an incident.
Related to our special exhibition “Toward the Modernity: Images of Self & Other in East Asian Art Competitions" held from 13 February to 18 March 2014, some artworks from Southeast Asia, which depict the Japanese occupation during the Pacific War are displayed at the end of this exhibition.
*image (left)
Yamashiro Chikako
Your voice came out through my throat, 2009
video, 7min.
courtesy of Yumiko Chiba Associates
