Tong Tana @ KL Biennale

I recently participated in KL Biennale with the work called Tong Tana. This work is in collaboration with sound artist Kamal Sabran who did the sound for Tong Tana. KL Biennale is taken place at the National Art Gallery in Kuala Lumpur from 1 Nov 2017 - 31 March 2018.

Below is the description about the artwork:-

Tong Tana

Within the theme, five categorization applies socio-cultural practices in which I will approach the environmental shifts of deforestation and urbanisation of the Malaysian Indigenous people The Orang Asli and The Penan.

Tong Tana means ’in the forest’. It is a word taken from the Penan, a group of nomadic  people that live in the rainforest in Sarawak Borneo. The Penan are some of the last people remaining as hunters and gatherers, and they are noted for their practice of 'molong' which means ’never taking more than necessary’.

This practice is quite the opposite from the system in the world most people are living in today. The dominating world economic is generated by consumerism, blamed for growing inequality and wasteful use of resources.

As an interdisciplinary artist that have migrated to Denmark and lived here for the past 15 years. My work has been shaped and inspired by my new environment and cultural conditions which explores themes such as identity, migration, movement and displacement. The expression of longing is also shaped by the feeling of belonging and not-belonging to two different countries, Malaysia and Denmark.

The indigenous people have been the subject of debate in Malaysia and the international human rights arena. The rights of several indigenous groups, such as the Penan, have been neglected as they continue struggle for land rights. They  have a strong affinity to the land they live on and their environment is essential for their social and cultural conditions and survival as a cultural entity. The Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia continue to suffer day to day violations of their social, economic and cultural rights although Court decisions have acknowledged, that the orang asli have a form of native title to customary land.
At the same time the environmental shift due to deforestation, industrial logging, large-scale commercial oil palm plantations , road construction and large dams  which have  contributed to  forest degradation. These activities have created hardship to the indigenous people as a result of diminished resources.

This artwork for the Kuala Lumpur Biennale reflects a longing towards the country where I was born and grew up. The installation attempts to capture a sense of memory in relation to history, diminishing cultures and a new way of life. Tong Tana examines conflict, displacement, marginalization and urban progress with regards to the indigenous people of Malaysia through site visits to homes of the indigenous people in Malaysia and through the mass media.

This installation and performance art is an exploration on our relationship with the mass media. In this work, I collaborated with Feras, a Syrian refugee living in Denmark. It shows among others a road map which Feras took to come to Denmark from Syria.

postcard to mao

this work ' postcard to mao' is the first of a new series I am working on which deals with the space in which we communicate and the economic situation we are experiencing. The image mao was copied from the chinese paper currency, the 'yuan'. The work is done with postcards which I collected from different places such as restaurants and culture houses in Denmark, given for free.
Not so long ago we had to pay money for these postcards, but due to a faster and more reliable system of communicating such as email or e-card, these postcards seems to be a 'thing of the past' and can be gotten free and now used as a form of advertisement or propaganda .
The postcards are pinned on to the wall while the rest are laid down on the floor. This gives the work a mortality or temporary status in which it occupies the space for only a period of time, just like a system, an empire or a person, Mao. After some time they are remembered in history books, on paper currencies, posters, stamps or on a postcard.

x box - performance and installation art at the national art gallery KL . i stayed 3 days in a 3 x 6 sqm box without going out and without food.

The Opening-Pelita hati

Muar-born artist Amir Zainorin’s works have an international flavour. Muar-born artist Amir Zainorinâ € ™ s works have an international flavor. FRANCIS DASS writes on the man who spent his youth travelling and dabbling in many jobs before he found his calling. FRANCIS DASS writes on the man who spent his youth traveling and dabbling in many jobs before he found his calling.
AMIR Zainorin has found his true calling in life by becoming an artist. AMIR zainorin has found his true calling in life by becoming an artist.
If you look carefully at his paintings, you’d be hard pressed to imagine that this unassuming and pleasant Muar-born man is the mind behind art pieces that have an international flavour… If you look carefully at his paintings, youâ € ™ d be hard pressed to imagine that this unassuming and pleasant Muar-born man is the mind behind art pieces that have an international flavor ...

An artist abroad

Living and working in Denmark now, Amir was back to visit his old haunts in KL for a few months. But not content to sit and do nothing, he started work on an installation called Art, Politics and Power at the National Art Gallery, represented by a wall filled by makeshift flags, mostly created from bits of newspapers and satay skewers.
Sporting the mandatory Bohemian ponytail, Amir comes across as a fairly likeable person - always grinning, with a youthful, early 20s look and attitude that belies his 42 years, his sparse frame clad in a brand new white T-shirt.
"I get kicked and I get a kick out of it! I can be me, that's the closest thing I get to being myself, being honest to what I'm doing," says Amir, explaining his reasons for becoming an artist.
(to read more please click the headlines, tq) 

Flags

 

'This is derived from our desire to show power, be it of conquering new physical territory or epistemological space. The 99 names of God printed on 99 flags are the characteristics of God which can lead to spiritual power and closeness to God.'

to read more please go to link below, tq

http://www.amirzainorin.dk/press_5.html