artist ming Wong on racism and empire building
The Berlin-based Singaporean artist Ming Wong will hold a lecture performance called “Your Special Island” on Feb. 23, 6 p.m. at the Tanghalang Huseng Batute (CCP Studio Theatre) at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex.
“Your Special Island” unpacks the inherent racism and building of empire found in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1949 Broadway musical and 1958 Hollywood film South Pacific. Taking place against the backdrop of the Pacific War, the plot, lyrics and staged scenery of South
Pacific has largely influenced the west’s mediatized exotic projection on the Pacific region, its inhabitants, and America’s post-war control over it.
Wong’s presentation centers around the musical’s song Bali Ha’i, a hypnotic siren soundtrack about an unknown, exotic and unimaginable “special island.” The song is interpreted by Bloody Mary, a Tonkinese female character played by the African-American actor Juanita Hall (in the Hollywood version). Using fake, broken English, Bloody Mary is portrayed as the “native expert” who pushes her daughter into marrying a white American lieutenant, who in turn is struggling with his own angst for desiring a non-white companion. Premiering at the CCP as a lecture performance, “Your Special Island” is presented as a timely decolonized perspective focusing on race and identity, in an era of new order in the militarization of the seas surrounding the Asia-Pacific region.
Ming Wong builds layers of cinematic language, social structure, identity and introspection through his retelling of world cinema and popular culture in his videos, installations and performances. With imperfect translations and reenactments, he casts an actor (often himself) as every character in a story. Wong attempts to unravel ideas of “authenticity,” “originality” and “the Other,” with reference to the act of human performativity. He looks into how culture, gender and identity are constructed, reproduced and circulated, as well as how it all feeds into the politics of representation. Though untrained as an actor, he has embarked on an artistic practice that is at once highly influenced by cinema and is in constant dialogue with measures of performativity, gender and difference. Recent projects have become more interdisciplinary, incorporating performance and installation to flesh out his exploration of cultural artefacts from around the world.
Wong represented Singapore at the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009 with the solo presentation “Life of Imitation,” which was awarded a special mention. His work has been shown recently at Busan Biennale, South Korea; Dakar Biennale, Senegal; Dhaka Art Summit, Bangladesh; Para Site, Hong Kong; SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin; and Centre National de la Danse, Paris (all 2018). He has had solo exhibitions at leading institutions worldwide including UCCA, Beijing; Shiseido Gallery, Tokyo; REDCAT, Los Angeles. He additionally has participated in Sydney Biennale (2016 & 2010); Asia Pacific Triennial (2015); Shanghai Biennale (2014); Lyon Biennale (2013); Liverpool Biennial (2012); Gwangju Biennale (2010); and Performa 11, New York (2010).
“Your Special Island” by Ming Wong is free and open to the public as part of a program organized by Bellas Artes Projects in partnership with the Cultural Center of the Philippines, exploring the creative possibilities of the lecture-performance genre. Inaugurated on Nov. 17, 2018 with “Dying on Stage” by Christodoulos Panayiotou, the series will continue in 2019 with presentations by guest artists including Lawrence Abu Hamdan from Lebanon.
Ming Wong’s participation has been generously supported by the Fernando Zobel BAP-residency grant.
Contact @bellasartesprojects on Instagram or Facebook to register.