- A Distinct Order by Malaysian curator Roopesh Sitharan available exclusively online from 11 to 12 December 2021
- Three panel discussions explore the underlying relativism of Order through art
The British Council in Malaysia presents A Distinct Order, a film programme featuring Malaysian and UK artists, which will be available for viewing exclusively from 11 to 12 December 2021.
This curatorial project presents a dialogue between UK and Malaysia in articulating the challenges of reimagining the eminence of plurality in ‘Order’. Curated by Roopesh Sitharan, A Distinct Order is put together to engage in dialogue, seeking affinity to explore the existence of ‘difference’ in the expression of Order.
The programme hopes to expand the discussion by focusing on diversity in Order to unpack the notion of plurality so that it could include worldviews coming from Malaysia. This is achieved by having selected Malaysian video works presented alongside the UK counterpart. These Malaysian works are chosen by the curator as they accentuate different possibilities of resistance through artistic practice whereby highlighting the complexity and specificity of dissenting voices.
A Distinct Order also consists of panel discussions, which complement the featured works by discussing the underlying relativism of Orders. This is done through three different referential mapping, namely Framing, Content and Context. ‘Framing’ is a panel discussion which features curators from Malaysia and UK discussing the conceptual premise for their curatorial decisions and approach. This panel aims to unearth the categories of thought and critique in curatorial practice as a legitimate way of making visible the suppression of Orders.
‘Content’ on the other hand is a panel discussion that invites artists, especially practitioners that deal with moving images, to discuss the possibilities offered by the medium in representing or highlighting issues of Orders through film. The discussion particularly centres on techniques of making, presenting and articulating facilitated by the medium as a form of expressing an idea, or critique.
Lastly, ‘Context’ involves a broader discussion of Orders, especially in the effects of such systems upon lived experience as expressed from the perspective of cultural practitioners. This panel explores the idea of otherness and how art can create awareness and empathy thus fundamentally operating as a fusing agent between the inside and the unruly outside of Orders.
A Distinct Order curated by Roopesh Sitharan is part of OLD WORLD ORDER / NEW WORLD ORDERS, a programme from WE ARE HERE: Artists’ Moving Image developed by Tendai John Mutambu, British Council and LUX.
View A Distinct Order from 11 to 12 December 2021 at https://www.britishcouncil.my/programmes/arts/work/aaa/distinct-order.
Showcase
The artworks will be made available on the exhibition site from 11–12 December 2021. The pre-recorded panel discussions will be available for viewing from 11 December 2021 onwards.
Artworks
11–12 December 2021
An online screening of the artists’ films:
OLD WORLD ORDER / NEW WORLD ORDERS (65 minutes, 49 seconds)
- Callum Hill, Crowtrap, 2018, 15 minutes (LUX)
- Rosalind Nashashibi, The States of Things, 2000, 3 minutes, 18 seconds (British Council)
- Luke Fowler, ENCEINDRE, 2018, 20 minutes, 41 seconds (LUX)
- Morgan Quaintance, Another Decade, 2018, 26 minutes, 50 seconds (LUX)
Malaysian Works (56 minutes, 54 seconds)
- Hasnul J. Saidon, Post-Colon – A series of video shorts, 1994, 19 minutes, 32 seconds
- Ain Rahman, The Paradox of Philocaly I, 2021, 5 minutes, 18 seconds
- Gan Siong King, Kak Laila, 2016, 16 minutes, 5 seconds
- Okui Lala, My Language Proficiency, 2017, 15 minutes, 59 seconds
Panel Discussions
Recordings with Malaysian Sign Language (BIM) interpretation will be available for viewing from 11 December 2021 onwards.
Panel 1 - Framing
A panel discussion which features curators from Malaysia and UK discussing the conceptual premise for their curatorial decisions and approach. This panel aims to unearth the categories of thought and critique in curatorial practice as a legitimate way of making visible the suppression of Orders.
Moderator: Mark Teh Speakers: Roopesh Sitharan, Tendai John Mutambu
Panel 2 - Content
A panel discussion that invites artists, especially practitioners that deal with moving images, to discuss the possibilities offered by the medium in representing or highlighting issues of Orders through film. The discussion particularly centres on techniques of making, presenting and articulating facilitated by the medium as a form of expressing an idea, or critique.
Moderators: Ghazi Alqudcy Speakers: Mahen Bala, Okui Lala, Morgan Quaintance
Panel 3 - Context
A broader discussion of Orders, especially in the effects of such systems upon lived experience as expressed from the perspective of cultural practitioners. This panel explores the idea of otherness and how art can create awareness and empathy thus fundamentally operating as a fusing agent between the inside and the unruly outside of Orders.
Moderators: Jac sm Kee Speakers: Dipali Gupta, Sharon Chin, Josephine Chime
About WE ARE HERE
WE ARE HERE: Artists’ Moving Image from the British Council Collection and LUX is a series of five artists’ film programmes of compilations and installations curated by Tendai John Mutambu for the British Council, the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities, and LUX, an international arts agency that supports and promotes artists’ moving image practices.
Each programme is curated around a theme: national identity, marginality, intimacy, the future and the environment, and the archive.
WE ARE HERE interrogates how outstanding emerging and established British or UK-based contemporary artists are influenced by these themes and how they explore them through biography, documentary, poetry and fiction.
About LUX
LUX is an international arts agency that supports and promotes artists’ moving image practices and the ideas that surround them. Founded in 2002 as a charity and not-for-profit limited company, the organisation builds on a long lineage of predecessors (The London Film-Makers’ Co-operative, London Video Arts and The Lux Centre) which stretch back to the 1960s. lux.org.uk
For media information please contact:
Ikram Khasim
Head of Communications
E: Ikram.Khasim@britishcouncil.org
Florence Lambert
Head of Arts and Creative Industries
E: Florence.Lambert@britishcouncil.org
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We build connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education and the English language. Last year we reached over 80 million people directly and 791 million people overall including online, and through broadcasts and publications. Founded in 1934 we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body. We receive a 15 per cent core funding grant from the UK government. www.britishcouncil.org
The British Council has been working in Malaysia since 1948.