Unfolding over a period of three weeks is a special project by London based Singaporean Artist-in-Residence Erika Tan. The Lab will be used through multiple layers: as an exhibition space; a film studio; a working and meeting space as well as the site of a live “broadcast” performance debate. Focusing on the forgotten historical figure of the Malay weaver Halimah, Tan will reactivate through a series of footnotes instigating a process of collective labour towards the understanding that history should be an active effort created by many. Halimah lived and worked with 19 other Malayans in the 1924 British Empire Exhibition in London engaged in the production of woven material and as a physical representation of Britain’s “human” capital as a colonial subject. During the day Halimah demonstrated her craft selling products as a live object on one side of the British Empire Exhibition. At night she was behind the displays, cooking, eating and performing everyday life. Tan’s labour in The Lab is the (re)production of Halimah’s various conditions.
Singapore
Erika Tan
Singapore
Erika Tan
6 July - 3 August 2015
Focusing on the forgotten historical figure of the Malay weaver Halimah, Tan will reactivate through a series of footnotes instigating a process of collective labour towards the understanding that history should be an active effort created by many.
Image Gallery
Contributors
Artist-in-Residence
Erika Tan
Erika Tan
Artist · Lecturer at Central Saint Martins · Artist · NTU CCA Singapore
COUNTRIES OF PRACTICE: Singapore · United Kingdom · Singapore
Erika Tan (b. 1967, Singapore) is an artist and Lecturer at Central Saint Martins, London. Her research-led practice develops from an interest in received narratives, contested heritage, subjugated voices, and the transnational movement of ideas, people, and objects. Between July and August 2015, Tan was Artist-in-Residence at NTU CCA Singapore where she continued her research into the minor historical figure of the Malay weaver Halimah and the conditions surrounding the 1924 British Empire Exhibiton, an inquiry that has since developed into the video installations APA JIKA, The Mis-Placed Comma and The ‘Forgotten’ Weaver (both in 2017).
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