CONTACT
Au Sow Yee
해적, 휘청이는 배와 천일야화 I: 흔들며 노젓기,
Pirates, the Trembling Ship and their 1001 Nights I: Rock and Row | 2022 | 5’37”
Courtesy the Artist
Pirates, the Trembling Ship and their 1001 Nights I: Rock and Row | 2022 | 5’37”
Courtesy the Artist
Synopsis
Rock and Row is the first work from Pirates, the Trembling Ship and their 1001 Nights series. The series investigates nursery rhymes embedded in contemporary society influenced by colonization. Resonances and haunting stories create ruptures that allow a peep into intermingled undercurrents of colonial history and its remnants imprinted today, telling stories through mysterious pirates around the region. Pirates here also serve as a metaphor of someone who is constantly crossing the solid idea of borders, be it borders of identity, religion, geopolitics or nation state. The series also takes its reference from the 1001 Nights, a Persian story seemingly repeating itself, and speaks also about the shifting cultural and political context of the Malay Archipelago. Rock and Row features a song telling the imaginary journey of Abdulla Al Haj, a mysterious pirate with shifting identity during the 18th century, venturing into fractured history and the recent past. The song is a drastic adaptation from Row, Row, Row Your Boat, an English nursery rhyme telling a scene of rolling down the stream, believed to be brought to Malaysia during the British colonization era that started from the 19th century.
About the artist
Au Sow Yee was born in Kuala Lumpur, she now lives and works in Taipei. Her works integrate mixed formats of moving images, conceptual art, installation and theatrical settings, intertwining an unique sense of space/time montage. She explores and extends perception on image and image making, and its relationship with history, politics, and power. She is a recipient of Honorable Mentions in the 2021 Taipei Art Award, and a finalist in the 2018 Asia Pacific Breweries Signature Art Prize. Sow Yee’s works were exhibited in 2023 Sharjah Biennale, 2022 Busan Biennale, Singapore Art Museum, MMCA Seoul, Mori Art Museum (Tokyo), HKW (Berlin), BACC (Bangkok) and various other exhibitions.