Episode 11: Ho Tzu Nyen – The Paradox of Southeast Asia and The Critical Dictionary

Ho Tzu Nyen, One or Several Tigers, video still, 2017, synchronzied double channel HD projection, automated screen, shadow puppets, 10 channel sound. Courtesy of the Artist and Kiang Malingue Gallery

Ho Tzu Nyen, One or Several Tigers, video still, 2017, synchronzied double channel HD projection, automated screen, shadow puppets, 10 channel sound. Courtesy of the Artist and Kiang Malingue Gallery

Ho Tzu Nyen, The Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia, 2015 - ongoing, algorithmically composed video, infinite loop, various configurations. Courtesy of the Artist and Kiang Malingue Gallery

One or Several Tigers, 2017, synchronised double channel HD projection, automated screen, shadow puppets, 10 channel sound. MCaM, Shanghai. Courtesy of the Artist and Kiang Malingue Gallery

Ho Tzu Nyen, Utama - Every Name in History is I, video still. Installation with Single Channel SD Video, 23 min, 20 paintings, 10 red curtains. Courtesy of the Artist and Kiang Malingue Gallery

The question of ‘what is Southeast Asia’ is one that has sat with me for many years. This podcast is centered on sharing stories from creatives across the region, but what does Southeast Asia really mean? To what extent do we identify as ‘Southeast Asian’? For example, I am Indonesian. I was born and raised in Indonesia. And Indonesia is part of Southeast Asia. But I never refer to myself as ‘Southeast Asian’, and I noticed that other people from the region almost never refer to themselves as ‘Southeast Asian’ either but rather Vietnamese, Filipino, Thai, Cambodian, and so on. Countless cultures, ethnicities, languages, dialects, and religions are being practiced across the region. So what is Southeast Asia and what makes us ‘Southeast Asian’? It is a strange concept but it is an important one for us to reflect on and unpack.

In this episode, I spoke with Singaporean artist, researcher, and philosopher Ho Tzu Nyen. We spoke about what sparked Tzu’s interest in Southeast Asia and how this too has been a result of investigating his own identity. One of his most renowned works is the Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia, an online interactive dictionary that embraces chance, encounters, and multiplicity of Southeast Asia. In this conversation, we spoke about Tzu’s approach to ‘visualising’ and re-imagining Southeast Asia, why he chose the dictionary format, and how we could learn with and from tigers, weretigers, and ghosts. Tune in to start the journey!

About Ho Tzu Nyen

Ho Tzu Nyen makes videos, installations, and performances that often begin as engagements with historical and theoretical texts.  Recent exhibitions of his work have been held at the Hammer Museum (2022), Toyota Municipal Museum of Art (2021) and Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM](2021). Together with Taiwanese artist Hsu Chia-wei, he curated ‘The Strangers from Beyond the Mountain and the Sea’, the 7th Asian Art Biennale, at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts. From 2015 to 2016, he was a DAAD resident in Berlin.

Explore The Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia (CDOSEA) at cdosea.org

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.