March 2024
Patani Art Space, Thailand
Saturday, April 27, 2024
Oct 2023
Forum - 'Calling it Home'
Kunsthal Charlottenborg
Wednesday 25 October 2023 at 17.00-19.00
The forum is an introduction to the performance festival Stateless Mind # 5 - Calling it Home, that takes place 25th-28th October at Kunsthal Charlottenborg and Valby Kulturhus. The forum will engage in a discussion about the concept of 'home' in a globalized world, where cultures converge and identities intersect.
Panelists of the forum:
Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen: (Denmark/Philippines)
Thuy Nguyen: (Sweden/Vietnam)
Amir Zainorin: (Denmark/Malaysia)
Moderator:
Pia Lund Poulsen (Denmark)
Forum - 'Calling it Home'
Layering Gang Kelinci: Symbiosis of Culture and Plastic Consciousness
July 2023
Layering Gang Kelinci: Symbiosis of Culture and Plastic Consciousness
Gudskul, Jakarta, Indonesia, 2023
Curatorial Perspective by Anna Cuomo
28 August 2023
Layering Gang Kelinci represent the way of absorbing the very local environment of the village close to Gudskul area. Gang Kelinci means rabbit alley as entering in the rabbit hole is always related to unexpected discoveries in an unknown place: jumping in a site where you can find new realities and ways to express it. The tour around the Gudskul area in the village brought Amir to absorb a new cultural hints such as thinking to the big amount of plastic trash that occupy public areas. Collecting plastic trash became a way to be connected more with a rich culture made up of different layer of many histories, from the very past till the contemporary society’s leftovers, such as plastic bags as documents of everyday life. The plastic foils have been combined with pictures taken around and then silk-printed on the bags to create the artworks. The works are then made by layers of plastic that also contain that hints, made up of all this layered existences. Layering is also the process in the whereby the branch of a three produces roots separated from the original plant becoming a new propagating desiderable plants. If the tree is Gudskul, all the contributions of the community and the technics learned here give new life to a plant derived from a mix of new experiences and of putting together people and materials.
-Dr. Anna Cuomo is a curator and researcher currently working at the Madre Museum in Naples.
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Layering Gang Kelinci: Symbiosis of Culture and Plastic Consciousness
Gudskul, Jakarta, Indonesia, 2023
This exhibition merges environmental consciousness with cultural exploration, transforming discarded plastics into artworks through silkscreen and heat-pressing techniques. Inspired by a village excursion near Gudskul, the project reflects on sustainability, community, and collective learning. By aligning with Gudskul’s ethos of collaboration, it invites audiences to engage with the textures, narratives, and dialogues that emerge when art, culture, and ecology intersect.
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About this Work
"Layering Gang Kelinci: Symbiosis of Culture and Plastic Consciousness" transcends typical artistic boundaries, offering an immersive and transformative experience at Gudskul. This exhibition intricately merges environmental consciousness with cultural exploration, enriching the ongoing discourse on the interplay between art, culture, and environmental responsibility. It targets art enthusiasts, environmental activists, the local community, and cultural scholars.
During a memorable motorcycle excursion with Adi, a Gudskul guard, I was invited into his village residence near Gudskul. As we journeyed through the village, we embarked on a collection of discarded plastics. These plastics, once considered waste, became the foundation of my art. Through innovative techniques like silk screening mixed with heat pressing, these salvaged plastics metamorphosed into captivating artworks showcased at the Gudskul exhibition space.
The exhibition features interactive installations and sensory experiences, engaging the audience in a dialogue about environmental sustainability and cultural narratives. Visitors can touch and feel the textures of the transformed plastics, participate in interactive displays, and immerse themselves in the sensory elements of the exhibition.
"Layering Gang Kelinci" aligns harmoniously with Gudskul's ethos—a collaborative learning hub and contemporary art ecosystem spearheaded by Jakarta's art collectives: ruangrupa, Serrum, and Grafis Huru Hara (GHH). Since the early 2000s, these collectives have championed collective and collaborative practices in contemporary art. United by values like equity, sharing, solidarity, friendship, and unity, these collectives established a shared space in 2015 to advance the vibrancy of art and culture, igniting creative initiatives within the wider community.
In tandem with this cooperative outlook, an inventive platform emerged through festival organization and seminar curations, notably showcased in the immersive event series dubbed Stateless Mind by Jambatan collective, which I co-founded in Copenhagen. This initiative resonates with my personal artistic practice while mirroring Gudskul’s collaborative ethos. Tailored for diaspora artists in the Nordic regions, this thoughtful initiative underscores a commitment to nurturing artistic interaction, cultural dialogues, and creative empowerment across diverse artistic spheres.
By intertwining environmental advocacy, cultural exploration, and community engagement, "Layering Gang Kelinci" bridges with Gudskul to shape a cultural environment steeped in inclusivity, collaboration, and artistic resonance.
-Amir Z, 2024
Installation view at gudskul, Jakarta
with support from Danish Art Foundation
Too Far East is West
May 2023
Too Far East is West
Artist Residency at Pilotenküche, Leipzig, Germany
The title Too Far East is West captures the tension of living between two worlds — rooted in Malaysia yet shaped by life in Copenhagen. This duality became the compass for my residency in Leipzig, where history and renewal meet at every street corner.
Posters and the City
I lived in a flat with twin folk singers from Ireland in the west of Leipzig and cycled daily to my studio in the east. That six-kilometer ride became part of the work itself. Graffiti, posters, and weathered walls turned the city into a shifting canvas.
Leipzig’s urban surfaces fascinated me — posters layered over posters, some clinging half-torn, others long forgotten until scraped away by the authorities. Each sheet carried traces of the city’s past and present. Riding with a bike fitted with a front carrier, I began collecting these fragments, peeling them carefully to reveal the hidden voices beneath.
Back in the studio, these posters became material for an installation — a visual mosaic that paid homage to Leipzig’s resilience and cultural vibrancy. What others discarded became an archive of collective memory, a dialogue between tradition and the anarchic pulse of the present.
The Last Supper Remix
During the residency I also curated a group performance, The Last Supper Remix. Inspired by da Vinci’s painting, it reimagined the table as a site of sharing — food, ideas, and creativity offered in common. Some participants felt joy in the act of generosity, while others raised concerns about appropriation and authorship. The tension became part of the work itself, showing how participation in art is never neutral.
Diaspora Yellow Curry
To extend this spirit of sharing, I cooked and served a yellow curry spiced with turmeric, star anise, cardamom, and ginger. It was both a taste of home and a reflection of my own family life: Malaysian heritage intertwined with Danish rhythms. Food became another medium — a ritual of memory and hospitality, reminding us that cultural identity is always lived, exchanged, and transformed.
Reflection
Through posters, performance, and food, Too Far East is West became a meditation on what it means to belong to more than one place. It celebrated Leipzig’s layered identity while reflecting my own journey across borders and cultures.
The residency reminded me that art is not only about objects in a studio. It is about movement, generosity, and the unexpected dialogues that emerge when fragments of history meet the present moment.
March 2023
These wonderful children did a fantastic job creating the artwork which were later installed at the museum.
Elgiz museum is the first contemporary art museum in istanbul which has works of Gilbert and George and Tracy Emin among their permanent collection.Thank u Füsun Ericksen from the Dansk Kulturinstitut / Danish Cultural Institute for making it happen. 🌸
Project by Dansk Kultur Institute
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