ART platform Borneo Bengkel has brought together creatives from around the world to present their works at Hin Bus Depot Gallery, as part of this year’s George Town Literary Festival (GTLF), from November 23 to 27.
The five-day interactive exhibition entitled sem/bunyi features selected works from Borneo Bengkel’s previous international projects, Soundbank and Lingua Franca. The projects were organised virtually during the pandemic, and sem/bunyi presents them physically for the first time in Malaysia.
A play on two Malay words – sembunyi, meaning ‘to hide’, and bunyi, translated as ‘sound’ – this exhibition features poetry and audiovisual installations produced by collaborators from across Borneo (Sarawak, Sabah and Kalimantan) and the United Kingdom (Scotland, Northern Ireland, and England). sem/bunyi tells of stories ‘hidden in plain sight’; stories that are often neglected from national narratives, or only discovered by curious observers.
The exhibition invites visitors to explore and reflect on these audiovisual documentations of identity, indigenous languages, folk music and found sound, and to create their own sonic journey by utilising screens and QR codes hidden within the space.
sem/bunyi will also feature an exhibition tour, and on the final night of the George Town Literary Festival four East Malaysian cultural practitioners and poets will perform for a live audience, alongside invited guests from GTLF’s 2022 programme.
Performers include Sarawakians Adrian Jo Milang, practitioner of traditional Kayan oral art forms parap and takna’, as well as visual artist/poet Bethany Balan, alongside Sabahan creatives and social activists Nadira Ilana and Adi HJ.
Co-curated by Borneo Bengkel team members Sonia Luhong Wan and Catriona Maddocks, sem/bunyi brings to the forefront hidden narratives in an immersive and experimental approach.
According to Catriona, “The works we are presenting were produced throughout the pandemic, when despite national lockdowns we managed to create these two really exciting collaborative projects: Soundbank, which gathered 16 international musicians to document and record music, folk songs, and sounds from the world around them, and Lingua Franca, a spoken word performance which presented works by diverse and often marginalised poets from the UK and Malaysia. We’re really excited to have the chance to present these in person for the first time ever and see how visitors interact with them.”
Sonia added “Both of these projects came from the realisation that while we were all so separated from one another, the virtual world gives us so many opportunities to connect with people from afar. There are such rich folk songs, cultural heritage, and diverse voices in both Borneo and the UK.
"We wanted to utilise virtual technology to bring these creatives together in order to create conversations about race, gender, religion and identity. It's a great experience to now translate all of that into a physical exhibition.”
The international collaborations were supported by British Council Malaysia’s Connections Through Culture grant programme, and once again has been supported by them to bring the work to GTLF 2022.
Florence Lambert, Head of Arts and Creative industries at the British Council in Malaysia said, “We’re delighted to continue to support the work of Borneo Bengkel and their international collaborators, as they are engaging in really important and necessary conversations of identity, belonging and cultural heritage.
"In partnering with GTLF the work continues to evolve and reach new audiences as well as present new opportunities for Bornean and British creatives to connect and co-create.” – The Vibes, November 21, 2022
