34.29 x 15.24 x 19.05 cm
Drought Mask by Rajni Perera is a prototype that is suggestive of dire implications for human survival. Directly addressing the urgent climate crisis, specifically wide-spread drought, this sculpture imagines hybrid cultural aesthetics of the near-future after global collapse. Composed of various woven textiles complete with frills and fringes, leather, a gas mask, and pencil, Rajni’s mask prefigures future dystopian characters who are resilient and resourceful; self-fashioning tools for survival. The work is both talismanic and practical protection from a socially oppressive and/or potentially deadly atmosphere. Foretelling the surging visibility, and commodification, of face masks due to the Covid-19 pandemic (this work was made nearly a year before), Perera’s work speaks to the ever-accumulating manufactured and environmental assaults on our health and well-being. Synthesizing aesthetics across cultures, time periods, and crises, Perera’s mask constitutes a symbol of future mythology.
Rajni Perera’s practice foregrounds a hybrid model that merges immigrant politics, feminine power, mythology, and science fiction. Portending an unsettling near-term future, her sculptures and paintings consider alternative conceptions of futurity; counteracting the archaic narratives that perpetuate oppressive and homogenized aesthetics. Perera describes her work as a healing force that refigures repressive modes of representation and identity into means of reclaiming power. Perera’s work both foreshadows the effects of climate change, and imagines a cultural transformation in which those marginalized people who exist on the periphery can thrive.
Au Musée juif de New York, requiem expressionniste pour les victimes du 7 octobre nav_close_menu Cet article vous est offert Pour lire gratuitement cet article réservé aux abonnés, connectez-vous Se connecter Vous n'êtes pas inscrit sur Le Monde ? Inscrivez-vous gratuitement Article réservé aux abonnés « Oct...
Rage or Loss: Women in Photography 2019 | Remedy For Rage | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles November 7, 2019 By Elaine Chiew (1,050 words, 6-minute read) Now in its fifth edition, Objectifs returns with its annual showcase in the Women in Film and Photography series...
About, for, and to #2 – Joan Naviyuk Kane, Poetry Reading Saturday, February 19, 2022 In conjunction with the exhibition Gala Porras-Kim, Precipitation for an Arid Landscape at Amant, poet Joan Naviyuk Kane reads from her latest book Dark Traffic (2021), in which she focuses on landscape, climate change, and indigenous identity...
Yesterday You Said Tomorrow - Photographs by Dave Coyle | Text by Magali Duzant | LensCulture Award winner Yesterday You Said Tomorrow In the quiet, lonely hours of dawn, Dave Coyle faces his personal struggle while plotting a path towards the future in atmospheric meditations on the landscape of the Pacific Northwest...
Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Rashomon in KL; Burmese cartooning pioneers | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Radar TRBANPHOTO March 5, 2020 ArtsEquator’s Southeast Asia Radar features articles and posts about arts and culture in Southeast Asia, drawn from local and regional websites and publications – aggregated content from outside sources, so we are exposed to a multitude of voices in the region...
Shooshie Sulaiman’s pictures of unidentified figures initially appear alien and even monstrous: rendered hairless in unusual and even sickly colors, they stand in stark contrast to the aesthetic ideals of conventional portraiture...
Palo Enceba’o is a project by José Castrellón composed of three photographs, two drawings on metal, and a video work that creates a visual and cultural analogy between the events of January 9th, 1964 in Panama City and the game of palo encebado carried out in certain parts of Panama to celebrate the (US-backed) independence from Colombia...
More than sing sing dance dance: The realities of LASALLE Musical Theatre | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles April 2, 2020 (1,800 words, 7-minute read) [Note: At the time of publishing, due to the COVID-19 situation in Singapore, the production has been cancelled...