Singapore's National Arts Council announces artistic team for 2017 Venice Biennale

Singapore's National Arts Council (NAC) on Wednesday announced the appointment of multidisciplinary artist Zai Kuning and curator June Yap as the artistic team representing Singapore at the 2017 Venice Biennale.

Their Proposal, Dapunta Hyang, is a culmination of over 20 years of Zai's research on Malay culture and history in Southeast Asia, as part of a broader inquiry on identity, according to NAC.

"Zai's proposal stood out strongly as it spotlights forgotten stories of a people whose culture influenced what we recognize as Southeast Asian today. The uncovering of forgotten histories will, I believe, strike a chord with the international audience at the Venice Biennale," commented Kathy Lai, CEO of NAC.

The exhibition for the Biennale extends a series produced in recent years that takes as its vantage point Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa, the first Maharaja of the early kingdom of Srivijaya.

Beside the history of the Srivijaya Empire, the artwork also points to the history of the Malay language and the establishment of Old Malay as the region's lingua franca.

Zai explained that Dapunta Hyang allows him to delve deep into a history and heritage of Southeast Asia not commonly found in history books on the Malay peoples and culture.

"Dapunta Hyang is thus a prompt and a means to attend to this history and the knowledge that go back in time. Not just from 50 or 200 years ago, but centuries, back to the 7th century. In order to understand what and who we are, and the actions and even accidents that brought us here," said Zai. Enditem