Art Wall / Yee I-Lann: TIKAR/MEJA/PLASTIK

January 24–July 14, 2024

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Yee I-Lann, TIKAR/MEJA/PLASTIK (2023).
Yee I-Lann, TIKAR/MEJA/PLASTIK (2023). Courtesy of the artist and Silverlens Gallery.
Yee I-Lann, TIKAR/MEJA/PLASTIK (2023). Courtesy of the artist and Silverlens Gallery.
Yee I-Lann, TIKAR/MEJA/PLASTIK (2023). Courtesy of the artist and Silverlens Gallery.
Yee I-Lann, TIKAR/MEJA/PLASTIK (2023). Courtesy of the artist and Silverlens Gallery.

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Past Events

Saturday, June 8, 11:30 AM–1:00 PM
Tikar-Inspired Mat Making

Learn about tikar, traditional woven mats used in all aspects of daily life in Borneo, and make your own woven mat infused with personal meaning.

BAMPFA

For ages six to twelve with accompanying adult(s)
Saturday, April 6, 1 PM
Lijin Lecture: Yee I-Lann on TIKAR/MEJA/PLASTIK and Art and Film from Borneo

Artist Yee I-Lann presents BAMPFA’s 2024 endowed Lijin Lecture in conjunction with her Art Wall project, TIKAR/MEJA/PLASTIK. The Borneo-based multidisciplinary artist addresses this work in the context of her wider practice, and in relation to the art and film landscape in Southeast Asia, with an emphasis on issues of climate crisis, precarious ecologies, and the creation of resilient communities. The lecture will be followed by a screening of short films from Borneo.

BAMPFA

Past Films

Art Wall / Yee I-Lann: TIKAR/MEJA/PLASTIK

January 24–July 14, 2024

“How do you colonize someone? Instead of an army of guns, imagine an army of tables. That violence of administration is more lethal, more violent, than a gun. With a gun I may shoot you, but with a table, I will tell you who you are, what your history is, what is valuable to be kept in a museum and what is not. This indoctrination of the mind becomes inherited violence.”

—Yee I-Lann

Yee I-Lann’s (b. 1971, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo) multidisciplinary practice interrogates the complex geopolitical histories of Southeast Asia. For her first major solo presentation at a US museum, the artist created sixty new works as part of her ongoing TIKAR/MEJA series (2020–). According to Yee, the meja (table) represents “the violence of administration” in colonial and patriarchal societies. In contrast, she sees the tikar (woven mat) as a fundamentally egalitarian and feminist support that grounds...

—Yee I-Lann

Yee works in collaboration with women weavers from the sea-based Bajau and Sama Dilaut communities of Sabah to “share the mat” and create an open platform for exchange. The artworks combine tropical pandanus leaves and plastic waste gathered from the Sulu-Celebes Seas using heritage weaves from the region. Their materials and methods highlight the importance of intergenerational knowledge sharing, as well as the desire to cultivate social and ecological resilience in response to the devastating effects of sea and land use and climate change.

TIKAR/MEJA/PLASTIK is woven by Aisyah Binti Ebrahim, Alini Binti Aniratih, Alisyah Binti Ebrahim, Ardih Binti Belasani, Darwisa Binti Omar, Dayang Binti Tularan, Dela Binti Aniratih, Endik Binti Arpid, Erna Binti Tekki, Fazlan Bin Tularan, Kinnuhong Gundasali, Kuoh Binti Enjahali, Luisa Binti Ebrahim, Makcik Lukkop Belatan, Makcik Siti Aturdaya, Malaya Binti Anggah, Ninna Binti Mursid, Noraidah Jabarah (Kak Budi), Roziah Binti Jalalid, Sabiyana Binti Belasani, Sanah Belasani, Tasya Binti Tularan, and Venice Foo Chau Xhien.

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Yee I-Lann: TIKAR/MEJA/PLASTIK is curated by Victoria Sung, Phyllis C. Wattis Senior Curator.

The Art Wall is made possible by major funding from Frances Hellman and Warren Breslau.

Additional support for Yee I-Lann: TIKAR/MEJA/PLASTIK is provided by Jennifer L. Martin.

Art Wall / Yee I-Lann: TIKAR/MEJA/PLASTIK

January 24–July 14, 2024

Past Events

Tikar-Inspired Mat Making

Lijin Lecture: Yee I-Lann on TIKAR/MEJA/PLASTIK and Art and Film from Borneo

Past Films