Sem/Bunyi, the unheard call of an exhibition far away

An interactive exhibition co-curated by Sonia Luhong Wan and Catriona Maddocks tells the unwritten stories of Borneo.

It’s difficult to write about something you haven’t attended yet also feel so connected to. As if your frayed edges are infinite, constantly seeking an end to intertwine themselves to. From the 23rd-27th November, Penang, Malaysia hosted the George Town Literary Festival and, whilst the entire event which celebrates world literature, translations and literary arts is incredible, this year’s theme in particular is poignant. Taming the Wild is the bringing together of human and wildness, a word that has historically been used to other Indigenous communities in order to colonise them.

One exhibition was particularly tender – Sem/Bunyi put on by the creative platform Borneo Bengkel. Their website states that it is a play on two words, sembunyi meaning ‘to hide’ and bunyi meaning ‘sound’. This exhibition presents art, music and poetry, some of which is printed on ceiling to floor scrolls of suspended paper and audiovisual installations from creators across Borneo. These sky-high poems, which use a collection of different languages including Iban, Hokkien, Malay, Kayan, English and much more, are a far-cry from the 1970s when the Borneo Literature Bureau were burying and allegedly burning Iban language books. The Iban and Kayan are two of the many Indigenous groups from Borneo. The volume of languages that are used within Malaysia and Borneo reveals the history of colonialism – even the written form can be evidenced as colonialism as many Indigenous cultures used oral traditions rather than privileging the pen and ink. This is written in one of the poems as it says: “my ancestors, the headhunting Ibans// Couldn’t even spell their own names”.

This exhibition is a celebration of the oral, the audial and also of the connection this has with identity. The platform that cultivated this group of contemporary artists, Borneo Bengkel, write on their website that:

“Bengkel, meaning 'workshop' in Malay, reflects Borneo Bengkel's core emphasis on knowledge exchange. Just like our ancestors of old, we believe that the exchange of skills and knowledge—both traditional and contemporary—are essential both for sustaining the creative human spirit and our shared histories.”

https://www.borneobengkel.com/about-borneo-bengkel

Rather than watch the silencing of their languages, this platform has created a space for conversation. This has resonated and reached a girl in the U.K. who has been told all her life how white she is for someone that identifies as ‘Asian’ and how it’s only 25% of her so it doesn’t even count (whatever that means). As she watches the destruction of her family’s home, the rainforest, from the other side of the world, she is grateful to be able to interact with the art of Borneo through Instagram. It reminds her that we are not alone and our art is our gift that we utilise to communicate those ideas that are most important to us.