A+ WORKS of ART presents Look East Gone West, artist Ho Rui An’s first solo exhibition in Southeast Asia, set to take place from 26 September to 24 October. In it, he explores themes of globalism and governance via an event dubbed the ‘East Asian miracle’ which saw economies in East Asia grow at a faster rate than emerging markets in the West.
The title of the exhibition is a play on words spoken by UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during her visit to Malaysia, in which she told Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, “although, Prime Minister, you may sometimes look East and sometimes may travel East, if you look far enough East and travel far enough East, you always come to the West!”
Ultimate Coin Test China High Speed Rail – Ho Rui An – HD video loop
This, in turn, was a response to Mahathir’s “Buy British Last” and “Look East” policies, and it is this that form the basis of the works in this exhibition. Ho reimagines stereotypes of the East and the West, specifically in terms of historical progress, by which one is placed in the past and the other in the future.
In his examination, Ho scrutinises the mediums and paths by which we move between points, and the East and the West. One such example is the lecture and video installation Asia the Unmiraculous (2018) which considers the 1997 Asian financial crisis against the ‘miracle’ that preceded it. The relationship between race and financial capitalism drives the video, and this latest presentation offers new material that puts Malaysia’s political economy more in context.
Lecture and video installation Asia the Unmiraculous (Credit Yasuhiro Tani – Courtesy of Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media)
Approaching the theme from a different angle is the film Student Bodies (2019) which examines the transformation of student bodies in the region as a reaction towards capitalist modernity and radical culture in East and Southeast Asia. In 2019, the film was awarded the International Film Critics’ Prize (FIPRESCI Prize) at the International Competition, 65th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany.
A great opportunity to gain perspective on East versus West relations over the past century, make sure to reach this exhibition which questions the messages that have been circulated by mainstream media and encourages viewers to consider them under clearer light.
The exhibition is curated by Kathleen Ditzig and supported by the National Arts Council, Singapore.
A+ WORKS of ART
Where d6-G8, d6 Trade Centre, 801 Jalan Sentul, 51000 Kuala Lumpur
When 12pm-7pm (Tues-Sat) *Exhibition from 26 Sept-24 Oct*
Tel 018 333 3399
aplusart.asia