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The exhibition at the start of voyage to the New World

I was pretty sure that I was looking for the entrance to an exhibition hall, but what I found myself facing was an entrance to a vessel waiting to set sail. The noise and bustle of the process leading to the exhibition hall seem to suggest that I take a breather before I transition into a new space. All right, I say, as I wonder what things could be found beyond this space. I now find myself stepping on a voyage toward new experiences. Passing through the entrance and heading left in the dark for a while, a new and unfamiliar world revealed.

I step toward the bow and find three different spaces unfolding below me. Gigantic waves come in and go past with rumbling grandeur. I take a look around the exhibition space, wondering what things could be lying beyond the sea for us to find. I find my heart swelling with curiosity, hope, and a sense of expectation for the world of the unknown that we will be meeting shortly.

In the past, when there were no planes or railroads, the sea was the passage and the main stage of the world. New routes connected Asian countries together and beyond, exchanging things, people, and prosperity and creating unique and hybrid cultures. We will now be visiting the major port cities of Asia, namely the Indian port of Kochi, Malacca in Malaysia, and Quanzhou, a city in southeastern China. What experiences will we be having there? Who will we meet, and what cultures will we find?

<Golden Journey> into Kochi, India

The first port I visited was Kochi. Kochi is an Indian city that served as the center of Indian spices trade, such as pepper and cloves, which were known back then as “black gold.” Since nearly two millennia ago, Kochi had been a place where people from the Arab world, Europe, and Asia came together to trade.

Inspired by Kochi’s history as a trading port, OMA Space created the work <Golden Journey>. A golden wind blows, seemingly creating vortexes on the hemp fabric. I step beyond the golden wall to find an interesting scent drifting to me with music. Black and golden powders, representing pepper and turmeric, create stark contrasts. A golden conical object is found in the middle of the space.

Mysterious movements of gold, the object, and the music created an atmosphere like that of a temple. The audience sit down in the space for a moment, smell the unique scent of “black stone,” and open themselves to new sensory experiences and the golden journey of their consciousness.

Hindu culture coexists with traces of Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, and British culture in Kochi. Visitors can look around Kochi through the video and experience through a digital medium the art of rangoli-making, a traditional art form originating from the southwestern side of the Indian Subcontinent dedicated to the goddess of wealth and luck.

Following the sea route that connects Asia and Europe at Malacca

I then arrive at the second destination, Malacca. Malacca stood at the Strait of Malacca, the shortest route connecting the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Once a small fishing village, Malacca grew into a global maritime kingdom after establishing friendly relations with China thanks to Zheng He’s expedition in the 15th Century, eventually becoming an important point of connection between Asia and Europe.

The work <WATER ODYSSEY: Waterroad> was inspired by this character of Malacca’s sea route. It is a work realized by artist Song Chang-ae, who has worked on paintings inspired by water for many years, and the participation of audience members through digital and media technology, working together to create new “water-roads.” When the audience waves their hand (sensor) towards the moon floating in the air, a spontaneous drawing through water channels is generated. This is combined with the artist’s preprogrammed leaf drawings and transformed into an image of “water flower seed.” The artist metaphorically compares the audience’s experience of creating water channels to an act that reflects their inner self, but for me, the experience was that of the great journey of humanity toward the unknown sea and the uncertainty and the dynamism involved in that endeavor.

With the increasing influx of Chinese immigrants for interregional trade, a community known as the “Peranakan” was formed through intermarriages with local women. They are the “Baba-Nyonya” that the title of the exhibition refers to, namely the men (Baba) and women (Nyonya) descending from the Peranakan community. The king of Malacca converted to Islam to attract the Muslim trading communities that were leading global trade. The cultural elements that were brought into Malacca through this process were adopted wholly by the people of the region, and in 2007, the entire city of Malacca was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The last step in our trip to Malacca is one of the most beloved features of the exhibition, the “Baba-Nyonya Marriage Photography.” One or two audience members take pictures, which are processed through AI and presented as QR codes to be downloaded.

Quanzhou, a thousand-year journey of cultures and religions

Quanzhou was the inspiration behind the work <Trade Appraisal>, created by artist Park Keun-ho (chamsae). Quanzhou has historically been a starting point and destination of maritime trade routes in Asia and one of the largest trading ports in the world, so much so that both Marco Polo’s <The Travels of Marco Polo> and Ibn Battuta’s <The Travels> praised Quanzhou as the “greatest trading port of the East.” On Jinjiang Mountain, at the entrance of Quanzhou, there is a hexagonal pagoda in the form of a Buddhist statue. It is said that this pagoda served as a guide for the trading ships reaching their destination after sailing across the distant sea. The work <Trade Appraisal> is set in a large exhibition space akin to a vast sea, a pillar of light standing like a lighthouse to guide the ships that sail the seas. The object is made out of crystal beads, metal frames, motors, and LED. When spectators choose the trade goods (such as spices, pepper, gems, etc.) that were actively exchanged in Quanzhou and place them on the table inside the pillar, the artwork creates light and motion based on the energy of light inherent in the objects. Crystal beads move and cause the light to scatter, creating a mysterious sound and a pillar of light in the darkness.

Quanzhou is often referred to as the “World Religions Museum” because of its rich and diverse religious heritage, created by the movement of people from a great variety of regions. UNESCO has recognized the urban and environmental value of Quanzhou, which was once the center of maritime trade routes in Asia and prospered, by designating it as a World Heritage Site in 2021. If you plan to experience this space, I especially recommend the work <Trade Appraisal>.

Dear Baba-Nyonya: A letter addressed to the Baba-Nyonya

As the audience members leave the space after experiencing the contemporary art production, urban imagery, and experience programs included in the exhibition, they are asked to write “a letter addressed to the Baba-Nyonya.” Lee Sang-hyeon senior curator of National Asian Culture Center, the programmer behind this exhibition, says:

“As a curator, I very much cherish the letters addressed to Baba-Nyonya that the visitors leave with us. The word Baba-Nyonya may be somewhat difficult and novel for audience members, but I saw one visitor say, “I want to live together with other people, just like the Baba-Nyonya had done,” along with different pictures on this topic. That was the moment I felt, “Yes, this person understood the central idea behind this. We were able to communicate with our audience members.” These things can work as important feedback for programming in the future. We can all become Baba or Nyonya, or are already Baba-Nyonya in the process of hybridity. I wanted to introduce the coming-together of different nations, cities and cultures, and people, and the culture of coexistence and mutual respect that emerges from that hybrid culture.”

Since 2003, the National Asian Culture Center has prepared exhibitions under the overarching theme of “Asian Urban Cultures.” This exhibition takes the potentially opaque theme of “hybrid cultures in Asian maritime cities” and creates and produces digital and media interactions, AI-based works, and contemporary art installations to bring out the immersion and communication between the works, the audience, and the themes of the exhibition. Another great achievement of this exhibition can be found in its skillful interpretation of the rather unknown concept of “Baba-Nyonya” into a more commonly understood and empathized idea of “coexistence and coming-together” in hybrid cultures, as well as the construction of the exhibition under the grand structure of a voyage to help present the meanings and themes to the audience members in a more accessible manner.

This exhibition, accessible and enjoyable for everyone including family visitors with children, will be held until June 16, 2024, at ACC Creation Space 1.

Find out more about the Dear Baba NyonyaClick to proceed to the web page.