In the first crossover episode between Mutfak and Sallow Sea Sound, we explore the role of photography as a tool for surveillance and control on islands, revealing the inextricable connections between transatlantic slavery and "coolie" indentured labor. Drawing on Achille Mbembe’s concept of the grotesque, we examine both visible and invisible networks across the Afrasian Sea, focusing on submarine cables, the impact of land reclamation on intertidal zones, and smart city projects on the edges of empire—from Mauritius, Madagascar, and Réunion, to Addis Ababa, Singapore, and Forest City in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

Bitter Sounds: A Potential Rehearsal - Arthur Yuen Po Hang, Mohamed Gueye and Xuandi Zhang

https://www.eseacontemporary.org/events/bitter-sounds-a-potential-rehearsal

Bitter Sounds: A Potential Rehearsal is a sound-based research project by artist Musquiqui Chihying, as part of Voicing the Archive initiative. Drawing inspiration from Mauritian and Réunion Creole Séga, Jamaican Chinese Reggae, and traditional Hakka music, Bitter Sounds explores the complex histories of cultural exchange and migration through the lens of music tied to the legacy of Chinese indentured labour—or the 'Coolie' system—in former British colonies following the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade.

With Guests: Sallow Sea Sound is a series of studies exploring the historical and cultural exchanges between Asia and Africa. 蕉色海聲是一系列探索亞洲與非洲海域歷史與文化交流境況的研究。

Lou Mo (b. 1990, France) is a Chinese Canadian artist and curator. She lives and works in France. She graduated from Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris with a degree in Asian Studies. Her research is focused on modern and contemporary Afro-Asian connections and Third World artists’ creative practices. She is also interested in issues of diaspora, identity, and perception in relation to post-colonial history and the centre-periphery model. She was invited curator of the 14th Dakar Biennial in Senegal where she presented ‘Havana, Forging the Souths’ exhibition at the Musée Théodore Monod – IFAN. Recently, she curated ‘Hot Flux: Modern and Contemporary Photography in Taiwan and Africa’ at Tainan Art Museum. As a member of the School of Mutants collective, her works have been exhibited in venues such as the 12th Taipei Biennial, Centre Pompidou Metz, the 12th Berlin Biennial, the 4th autostrada biennale and Glasgow International. Her other research-based works have recently been exhibited at the Hong-Gah Museum in Taipei and the Kochi-Muziris Biennial in India. She has participated in residencies at the A4 Art Foundation in South Africa, the Het Nieuwe Instituut in the Netherlands, La Cité des arts de La Réunion, La Becque in Switzerland and more. Her articles, translations, and exhibition reviews have appeared in ‘Something we Africans got’, the Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art, Modern Art (TFAM), with Nanjing’s Yilin Press, e-flux and Ocula.

Musquiqui Chihying 〔b. 1985, Taipei〕 is a Taiwanese visual artist and a filmmaker who resides and works in Taipei and Berlin. His artistic endeavors focus on issues of post- and trans-modernity in the Global South, postcolonial identity, and contemporary technology. He often employs media such as sound, music, and moving images to construct a narrative vocabulary, offering alternative perspectives on the interconnectedness of human condition and ecological environments. Many of his works have explored the special historical circumstances of ethnic and technological exchange between the African, Asian, and Afro-Asian Sea regions. Musquiqui Chihying's works have been exhibited in numerous international art institutions, including HKW Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, Migros Museum of Contemporary art in Switzerland, Art Sonje Center in Seoul, Centre Pompidou in Paris, Power Station of Art in Shanghai, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, MoCA Museum of Contemporary Art in Taipei, among others. His film works have been screened at various film festivals, including Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, Berlin International Film Festival in Germany, Rotterdam Film Festival in the Netherlands, and the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival. In 2023, he was awarded the Tung Chung Prize by The Hong Foundation in Taiwan. In 2019, he received the LOOP Video Art Award from the Han Nefkens Foundation and the Joan Miró Foundation in Spain. He is a member of the Taiwanese art group Fuxinghen Studio and leads the Research Lab of Image and Sound (RLIS), focusing on media technology and image politics research.