REIMAGINING HISTORY:

In the month of Merdeka, renowned local art critic and curator ZENA KHAN reflects on the way Malaysian artists turn local archives from passive guardians of memory to active agents shaping our understanding of the country's colourful history.

- ZENA KHAN

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to sit behind Tunku Abdul Rahman as he declared “Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!” in 1957? Or missed shopping in the kedai runcit that once constituted our local grocery trips? Or read historical accounts written in the colonial era and wondered how the events transpired from a Malay perspective? Well, several Malaysian contemporary artists have, and presented their imaginings to us in artworks inspired by archives as a means to decode Malaysia’s complex history.

Renegotiating archival material compels many Malaysian artists. This might be via sepia toned photographs and written documents we immediately consider archival. Other times it comes through objects, recordings or architecture. As an ex-British colony, this archival turn in Malaysian art takes on significance. After all, archives originally rose to prominence in 19th century culture during the expansion of European colonial empires. For us, to reclaim archival information often selected and presented via the colonial lens offers one route for fuller conversations on Malaysian history and identity to sprout.