Myth in Motion
Martha Atienza, Ana María Millán, Thao Nguyen Phan, Ana Vaz, and Connie Zheng KADIST and Sa Sa Art Projects are pleased to present Myth in Motion , an exhibition of videos from KADIST’s collection and one new video work by five international women artists. Watch Myth in Motion (with Khmer subtitles) on KADIST.tv now. Myth in Motion focuses on moving images as an artistic form and strategic tool to animate stories and mythologies. The exhibition acknowledges that myths are not stable, but rather open to reinterpretation and reinvention, as they go through continuous reproduction. Grounded in five video works from across the globe, Myth in Motion explores and blurs the various approaches and genres in constructing storytelling. From drawing, digital animation, and video games to performance, experimental film, and documentary, or from carefully scripted narratives and meticulously choreographed play to improvisational collaborative creation, the artists in the exhibition master the orchestration of the medium and expand its possibilities. The works on view delve into several critical issues we face today and are profoundly impacted by, including colonialism and its legacy, modernity, unwritten histories and collective amnesia, displacement and advocacy of indigenous communities for their lands and seas, and ecological crisis. Unbounded by fixed temporality and unrestrained in their spatial explorations, the works traverse through times and spaces – real, speculated, and imagined – knitting counter-perspectives to the grand narratives of history. Elegantly weaving between truth and fiction, reality and fantasy, the works in Myth in Motion question and seek to understand the conditions of various localities while challenging our critical rationalization and imagination of our status – past, present, and future. Myth in Motion is part of KADIST’s ongoing international program Double Takes , which activates film and video works through physical and online presentations at partner institutions and on Kadist. Tv . Sa Sa Art Projects is a Cambodian artist-run space dedicated to experimental and critical contemporary art practices. It was founded in 2010 by the Cambodian arts collective Stiev Selapak and operated from the historic and vibrant apartment complex known as the White Building until 2017, when the building was demolished for new development. Sa Sa runs four main interconnected programs: artist-led art education, exhibitions, Pisaot artist residency, and other special collaborative projects. In recent years, Sa Sa Art Projects has shifted toward a stronger engagement with young Cambodian artists and art graduates while facilitating resources and supporting independent practices for a healthy contemporary art ecology in Cambodia.