Prolonged Death

14 Acts of Remembrance

Between the Living and the Archive, 2021

Gillman Barracks, Singapore

Prolonged Death: 14 Acts of Remembrance is an homage to my late grandmother, a testament to my embodied knowledge of what I remember of her, and what she has passed on to me. I am living testimony to the stories and lessons she left me with.

Between the Living and the Archive considers the imprint of knowledge(s) upon our bodies. Contributing to our individualised ways of knowing and forged from varying pathways of transmission, what does it mean to acknowledge their traces in our lives? In their shaping of our realities, how do their echoes inform our lived experiences?

Living in our bodies, they circulate quietly. Often, they manifest through practice, acknowledgement and mediation. If applied appropriately, it can teach a generation. Other times, they live in suppression, irrelevance or neglect. Like a shadow, they bind onto us.

From the excavation of stories, memories, remedies, techniques, intuition and beliefs, the site presents a diverse interpretation of these knowledge(s). Between the Living and the Archive is an exercise to make space for these manifestations of knowledge(s) that live beyond mainstream pedagogical systems. Whether learnt, inherited or experienced, each artistic presentation demonstrates the physical translation of these knowledge(s) into materiality. The site invites us to contemplate our lived experiences built from these bodily methods of integration.

Text by Syaheedah Iskandar