State-less 無國界 is a new multimedia exhibition I curated as part of my role as an Associate Artistic Director at Kakilang. The exhibition features moving images, photography and digital works of 10 internationally acclaimed Southeast and East Asian artists. State-less 無國界 is a collaboration between Two Temple Place and Kakilang and is currently showing at Two Temple Place from 11 March – 9 April 2023. The exhibition is also part of Kakilang Festival 2023.
Install shots of the exhibition • Photography by Richard Eaton
Curatorial Statement
Can we ever be perceived as stateless? Or is being stateless defined by the eye of the beholder? While the term typically refers to a person not considered as a national by any state, it can also connote the rejection of any certainty of where we belong. It can indicate an intentional decision to exist beyond physical boundaries inscribed by others; a desire to be defined not by our skin colours or features, but by our actions and who we are as humans. This feels especially familiar and pertinent for us minorities of Southeast and East Asian heritages living in the UK, where we are often perceived as Chinese – an English word that usually refers to a person from China, erasing the myriad diasporas and descendants from across the Southeast and East Asia region.
State-less explores a selection of works by international artists of Southeast and East Asian heritage. Their works respond, contemplate, observe and react to the environment they are in. This exhibition invites audiences to consider Southeast and East Asia from different perspectives – a selection of environments whose very state might be ambiguous. The neo-Gothic architecture of Two Temple Place contrasts sharply with the built environment of Southeast and East Asia, but also reminds us of our colonial histories. The exhibited works comprise a variety of contemporary media – moving image, photography and interactive installations – framed and supported by scaffolding that intentionally highlights the clash of two opposing worlds: a postcolonial nation and a region that is still in development.
While focusing specifically on this region, the exhibition raises questions about how we all, more generally, respond to our surrounding environments; contemplate the tangible borders and invisible boundaries that outwardly define us; react to our politics; and observe our relationships with people, with nature, and more broadly, with the world.
Install shots of the exhibition • Photography by Richard Eaton
“Curator Ling Tan … breaks up the exhibition with a latticework of exposed scaffolding, referencing the ever-changing urban environment of cities in East and Southeast Asia that many of the works address, while also undoing and unsettling the stately grandeur of the site.”
– Art Review
“State-less is a thought-provoking display that sheds light on the visible and invisible boundaries that continue to shape our experience of the world, while giving voice to the diversity of a region that is too often seen as homogeneous. In contrast to the sort of immersive and immediate encounters that we are now so accustomed to (as for instance in the dazzling exhibitions at 180 Strand just up the road), many of the videos in State-less solicit slow viewing and listening.”
“State-less 無國界 is well-curated (thanks to Ling Tan), a thought-provoking exhibition which complements the themes and aims of the festival at large. It’s an excellent opportunity to get to know cutting-edge East and South East Asian artists. Plus also a masterclass in creative exhibition design.”
– Salterton Arts Review
“…even if you’ve never left your neighbourhood you’ll get the benefit of the show, because the intention isn’t for you to walk away with an encyclopaedic knowledge of any one or more cultures, but to see that myriad differences exist, and possibly develop an interest to further explore the variety.”
– London Art Roundup
Theme 1 – Respond 回應
Every day, millions of people across the globe experience extreme changes to their physical environment as a result of man-made or natural disasters, where borders are constructed and boundaries are exacted. Often, people are forced to directly respond to the situations imposed on them in order to create an improved environment and a future for themselves and their loved ones.
The selected works in this section explore how individuals or groups of people have responded to changes in Southeast and East Asia as a result of war, border conflicts, social oppression or urbanisation. The artworks compel the audience to see the region through the lens of the artists, and to examine and understand the actions people choose or are forced into – be it escaping and migrating across states, becoming self-sustainable in an overpopulated land, or simply bridging the divides through a communal meal. We ask the viewer: how would you respond when confronted with the same situation?
Theme 2 – Contemplate 沉思
The works in this section offer a glimpse into the everyday lives of people in the Southeast and East Asia geographic region. From bustling cityscapes to quiet rural landscapes, the artists here transport the viewer to specific times and places, creating immersive experiences that evoke a sense of presence and mindfulness, while also showcasing the diversity of the region’s environments. Mundane everyday sights and sounds become poignant and evocative, inviting us to view the world around us with fresh eyes, while encouraging us to take a moment and contemplate what we see.
We are prompted to ask ourselves how different or similar the everyday lives of people in the Southeast and East Asia region are to our own experiences in the UK. While there may be cultural and geographic variations, the work reveals that, at the core, our experiences have more in common than we may originally have thought.
Theme 3 – Observe 觀察
The act of observing is subjective in its nature. Capturing a moment in time and space can sometimes be purely coincidental or highly deliberate. The perspective that an artist uses to record their observation alters the way we as viewers perceive their own environment. We are impelled to see it from the particular angle of their view. In a way, it liberates us from our own self-imposed boundaries.
The works in this section invite viewers to look at various locales in Southeast and East Asia where nature and the urban interplay. They show us unfamiliar landscapes in the region not often seen by Western audiences, exposing us to some of the raw elements experienced by the artists as they capture their observation. We see instances where environments are destroyed or redeveloped to make way for urbanisation, where nature is harnessed for humanity’s use and where nature triumphs over humanity. These works urge us to question our future in which the climate crisis is already altering the ways we live, and ask us to make choices about the world we want for ourselves.
Singapore 1925-2025 by Robert Zhao Renhui • Photography by Richard Eaton
Theme 4 – React 反應
The work in this room showcases two artists of Southeast and East Asian heritage reacting to the culture they have experienced here in the UK. Through media that include drawing, print and performance, these works offer an intimate and immediate exploration of the ways in which individuals – whether born or visiting, working or migrating – may be influenced by their own heritage, language, and personal history when responding to the local landscape.
Special thanks to:
All the artists who are part of the exhibition – Tiffany Chung, Li Yongzheng, Lo Lai Lai Natalie, Jess Lau Ching Wa, Wu Tsan-Cheng, Wang Wei, Law Yuk-Mui, Robert Zhao Renhui, Tsui Kuang-Yu, Donald Shek
Anneliese Davidsen – Director of Two Temple Place
Rebecca Hone – Head of Exhibition at Two Temple Place
Kitmapper and KSO
An-Ting Chang – Artistic Director of Kakilang
Sandy – Marketing Manager at Kakilang
Katrina – Arts and Community Producer at Kakilang
Jessica, Yingnan and Kexin – Interns at Kakilang
