Sabahan artist Yee I-Lann is bringing two decades of her thought-provoking and visually captivating artwork to the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) at Tanjong Pagar Distripark.
Her latest exhibition, Mansau-Ansau, which runs until March 23, 2025, offers an immersive journey exploring power structures and culture from the perspectives of Sabah and Southeast Asia.
Yee, 53, explained that Mansau-Ansau, a term in the Dusun language meaning “to walk without knowing where one is going”, captures an element of "madness" to reflect the process she has undergone in recent years.
“I've been practising art since 1992, but my recent work, from 2018 to the present, has been deeply connected to Sabah, where I have worked primarily with two communities: the Bajau and Bajau Laut in Pulau Omadal, Semporna, and the Dusun and Murut weavers in the Keningau district,” she told Bernama at the opening reception of the exhibition.
The exhibition features a diverse range of media, including photo collage, silk, batik, as well as bamboo pus and pandanus.
Mansau-Ansau — also the title of one of the artworks on display — is a weave created using bamboo pus, a special and unique bamboo species most suitable for weaving by the Dusun and Murut communities.
This piece was created in collaboration with weavers Julitah Kulinting, Lili Naming, and Shahrizan Juin of Keningau in 2018.
Meanwhile, a whole wall is dedicated to TIKAR/MEJA/PLASTIK, a collection of woven artworks made from pandanus and contemporary materials, such as consumer plastic waste collected from the shores of Sabah.
A collaboration with the women of the Bajau Laut community in 2023, these colourful woven mats, with tables as their motif, highlight Yee’s ongoing quest to strike a balance in her artwork.
“A lot of major, patriarchal decisions by colonisers were made at the table. I was interested in how to balance that with a communal power... a power that comes from our ancestors. I found that in the form of the ordinary tikar (mat) that can be found across Sabah and Southeast Asia,” she said.
Yee, born to a Sino-Kadazan father and a Kiwi mother, spoke with pride as she described the local communities she worked with as talented and innovative groups of people who are very proud of their heritage and culture.
“This has been truly influential for me, learning different ways of seeing the world. Working with the stateless Bajau Laut community has shown me the importance of having pride in your 'budaya sebagai waris nenek moyang' (culture as the heritage of our ancestors),” she said.
Meanwhile, Yee expressed excitement about the Mansau-Ansau exhibition travelling to the Kunst Museum Thun in Switzerland next year.
“It’s going to be fascinating to see how a European audience responds to our deeply local artworks and how our philosophies of sharing a mat and reflecting on colonialism might resonate differently with them,” she added.
Sabah's Assistant Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Environment cum the Sabah Tourism Board (STB) chairman, Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, said the state government hoped to collaborate with more Sabah artists to promote Sabah as a tourism and cultural destination.
“Yee's work demonstrates the allure of Sabah. Much of her art also involves the communities in Sabah, showcasing the richness of our culture. Exhibitions like this can help introduce Sabah as a must-visit destination with its many attractions,” he said.
Sabah Trade and Tourism Office in Singapore managing director, Wendy Clare Stephens, expressed her office’s support for Sabah artists wishing to promote their work internationally.
“Our role is to help Sabah artists gain exposure beyond Sabah. We are very happy to support Yee. We also look forward to raising awareness not only in the Singapore market but beyond. We hope more Sabah artists will be able to establish their names internationally,” she said.
The opening reception was also attended by Malaysia High Commissioner to Singapore, Datuk Dr Azfar Mohamad Mustafar, and Tourism Malaysia (Singapore) Director, Norliza Md Zain.