Whatever does the archival mean, and how can one think of the archive beyond the (imagined) spaces of climate-controlled vaults and dusty libraries? Through the works of artists Jon Cuyson, Moe Myat May Zarchi, the exhibition Heavy Rotations explores larger questions of how historical consciousness, social memories and private accounts are shaped and created in contemporary Southeast Asia. These lines of inquiry endeavour to propose a new vocabulary for rethinking the archive in this age of hyper-networked digital media.
A reference to a practice in the radio broadcast industry—where stations maintain a list of songs that get the most airplay to play throughout the day—the exhibition title parallels the processes by which archival images have been adapted, remixed, and propagated to speculate on the possibilities of collective narratives, past and present.
This exhibition is co-curated with the Moving Picture Experiment Group (MPEG), an itinerant curatorial and research collective exploring the polyvalency of the moving image medium in contemporary practices across Asia. MPEG seeks to investigate and instigate hybridised modes of image-making, and is initiated and led by artists Alfonse Chiu, Adar Ng and Dave Lim.
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An architectural icon with distinctive twin shells, Esplanade is one of the busiest arts centres in the world. Since opening in 2002, we have presented more than 50,000 performances and activities, drawing 32 million patrons and 114 million visitors.
