Siapa Nama Kamu? (2019)

Siapa Nama Kamu? takes Chua Mia Tee’s iconic painting National Language Class (1959) as a starting point, drawing on its image of a group of students of various ethnicities learning Malay, the newly-designated national language after Singapore attained self-governance.

The performance articulates the pain and long-lasting effects of imperialism through historical texts, original spoken word pieces and songs. This work presents a contemporary take on the painting with a new cast, reflecting the current players asking the question, “Siapa Nama Kamu?”. The performances’ collaborators are intentionally women and individuals from ethnic minority communities who do not conform to colonial ideas of gender.

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Siapa Nama Kamu? (2019) collaborators: Alysha Rahmat Shah, Isabella Andrews, Aqilah, Dia Sabrina-Lim, Div, Iffah Rakinah, ila, Jannah Suhaimi, Kamiliah Maimon-Bahdar, Mohini, Mysara Aljaru, Ra, Zaza and Zeha H.