Rethinking About Exhibitions: *Towards a Mystical Reality* through Exhibitionary Space

In 1974, Redza Piyadasa and Sulaiman Esa organised the exhibition *Towards a Mystical Reality*:* A Documentation of Jointly Initiated Experiences*. Piyadasa and Esa taught fine art at the Mara Institute of Technology (MIT, now known as Universiti Teknologi Mara) in Kuala Lumpur. They were part of a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Yu Jin Seng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Index Journal 2024-08-01
Series:Index Journal
Online Access:https://index-journal.org/issues/liquid-time/rethinking-about-exhibitions
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849333679326756864
author Yu Jin Seng
author_facet Yu Jin Seng
author_sort Yu Jin Seng
collection DOAJ
description In 1974, Redza Piyadasa and Sulaiman Esa organised the exhibition *Towards a Mystical Reality*:* A Documentation of Jointly Initiated Experiences*. Piyadasa and Esa taught fine art at the Mara Institute of Technology (MIT, now known as Universiti Teknologi Mara) in Kuala Lumpur. They were part of a broader intellectual movement centred on a critical attitude towards dominant aesthetic conventions circumscribed by Euro-American notions of art. *TMR* advanced a decolonial method of thinking about art and artmaking. In 2011, Sulaiman Esa restaged *TMR* at the National Art Gallery, Malaysia, as part of the retrospective exhibition *Raja'ah: Art, Idea and Creativity of Sulaiman Esa from 1950s-2011*. Esa has subsequently restaged *TMR* across multiple venues in South East Asia, establishing this exhibition as a case study and entry point in how methodologies for exhibition histories as a discipline can be developed within the context of Asian art. I propose the possibility that the intersections between the curatorial and restaging break the impasse between historical art and the exhibition. This essay reflects on how I restaged *TMR* by reconstructing an exhibition model of the exhibition in order to expand existing understandings of "exhibitionary spaces."
format Article
id doaj-art-2bb0dcc67e6a4cf7963c494de2b64d5b
institution Kabale University
issn 2652-4740
language English
publishDate 2024-08-01
publisher Index Journal
record_format Article
series Index Journal
spelling doaj-art-2bb0dcc67e6a4cf7963c494de2b64d5b2025-08-20T03:45:47ZengIndex JournalIndex Journal2652-47402024-08-0110.38030/index-journal.2024.5.5Rethinking About Exhibitions: *Towards a Mystical Reality* through Exhibitionary SpaceYu Jin SengIn 1974, Redza Piyadasa and Sulaiman Esa organised the exhibition *Towards a Mystical Reality*:* A Documentation of Jointly Initiated Experiences*. Piyadasa and Esa taught fine art at the Mara Institute of Technology (MIT, now known as Universiti Teknologi Mara) in Kuala Lumpur. They were part of a broader intellectual movement centred on a critical attitude towards dominant aesthetic conventions circumscribed by Euro-American notions of art. *TMR* advanced a decolonial method of thinking about art and artmaking. In 2011, Sulaiman Esa restaged *TMR* at the National Art Gallery, Malaysia, as part of the retrospective exhibition *Raja'ah: Art, Idea and Creativity of Sulaiman Esa from 1950s-2011*. Esa has subsequently restaged *TMR* across multiple venues in South East Asia, establishing this exhibition as a case study and entry point in how methodologies for exhibition histories as a discipline can be developed within the context of Asian art. I propose the possibility that the intersections between the curatorial and restaging break the impasse between historical art and the exhibition. This essay reflects on how I restaged *TMR* by reconstructing an exhibition model of the exhibition in order to expand existing understandings of "exhibitionary spaces."https://index-journal.org/issues/liquid-time/rethinking-about-exhibitions
spellingShingle Yu Jin Seng
Rethinking About Exhibitions: *Towards a Mystical Reality* through Exhibitionary Space
Index Journal
title Rethinking About Exhibitions: *Towards a Mystical Reality* through Exhibitionary Space
title_full Rethinking About Exhibitions: *Towards a Mystical Reality* through Exhibitionary Space
title_fullStr Rethinking About Exhibitions: *Towards a Mystical Reality* through Exhibitionary Space
title_full_unstemmed Rethinking About Exhibitions: *Towards a Mystical Reality* through Exhibitionary Space
title_short Rethinking About Exhibitions: *Towards a Mystical Reality* through Exhibitionary Space
title_sort rethinking about exhibitions towards a mystical reality through exhibitionary space
url https://index-journal.org/issues/liquid-time/rethinking-about-exhibitions
work_keys_str_mv AT yujinseng rethinkingaboutexhibitionstowardsamysticalrealitythroughexhibitionaryspace