Dapunta Hyang, Transmission of Knowledge
Zai Kuning’s work has been returned to Singapore from Venice and is now on display at the country’s TheatreWorks. Zai’s imagined ship is a metaphor for the world at that particular point in time
April 23, 2018
When I witnessed the 17-meter-long skeleton of a ship in the Singapore Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale in 2015, Zai Kuning's artistic imagination thrilled me. Zai is an artist who has dedicated more than two decades of his life to exploring an almost forgotten past. Illuminated by seventh century Srivijayan ruler Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa, Riau Islands' marginalized Orang Laut, and Mak Yong-a disappearing form of Malay opera-Zai's imagined shi
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