Selamat Datang ke Malaysia
Review of the first survey of contemporary Malaysian art exhibited in Australia.
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Pole Positions. 2007
Installation concept
Sharon Chin's impressive installation "Pole Positions" (2007) offers a take on contemporary cultural translation. The viewer is faced with a pair of prayer carpets 'cut-out' in an architectural form. The immediate reference is a Mosque reaffirmed by the sound component of the call to prayer and video of minarets. One could mistake the carpet-form as a keyhole pointing to 'cultural/religious voyeurism', but slowly it is revealed they represent the footprint and spires of Kuala Lumpur's iconic Twin Towers not a mosque. It illustrates how easily translation can be skewed by (mis)understandings. It forces the visitor to kneel on the prayer carpet to put on the headphones, in turn altering their perspective, and pay homage to the minarets of Bumiputra consumerism.
© Photo: Sharon Chin
Courtesy: artist and Valentine Willie Fine Art
Review of the first survey of contemporary Malaysian art exhibited in Australia.