Focusing on the forgotten historical figure of the Malay weaver Halimah, Tan will reactivate through a series of footnotes instigating a process of collective labour towards the understanding that history should be an active effort created by many.
Erika Tan
6 July - 3 August 2015
Unfolding over a period of three weeks is a special project by London based Singaporean Artist-in-Residence Erika Tan. The Lab will be used through multiple layers: as an exhibition space; a film studio; a working and meeting space as well as the site of a live “broadcast” performance debate. Focusing on the forgotten historical figure of the Malay weaver Halimah, Tan will reactivate through a series of footnotes instigating a process of collective labour towards the understanding that history should be an active effort created by many. Halimah lived and worked with 19 other Malayans in the 1924 British Empire Exhibition in London engaged in the production of woven material and as a physical representation of Britain’s “human” capital as a colonial subject. During the day Halimah demonstrated her craft selling products as a live object on one side of the British Empire Exhibition. At night she was behind the displays, cooking, eating and performing everyday life. Tan’s labour in The Lab is the (re)production of Halimah’s various conditions.
