Tag: Balik Kampung

Koboi Balik Kampung 3

~ The Koboi Project

12 KEMBARA LAGI, Koboi Balik Kampung Series, 12 Chromogenic Printed in a Limited Edition of 9, Niranjan Rajah, 2015

Preparing for my Dari Pusat Tasek show at at Percha Art Space, Lumut Waterfront. The show will run over the Christmas and New Year period. It will open on 25th Dec. The gallery installation will feature the Koboi Balik Kampung series which consists of 12 photographic prints and presents a an autobiographical take on the complexities of contemporary Malaysian art and society. The titles are 1 Balik Kampung, 2 Kampung Halaman, 3 Bersama Abang, 4 Restu Ibu, 5 Bahang Panas, 6 Hujan Gerimis, 7 Warga Malaysia, 8 Tarik Harga, 9 Kuncu Kuncu, 10 Taubat Keling, 11 Cukur Janggut, 12 Kembara Lagi. Koboi Balik Kampung explores the notion of returning home from the diaspora, but also interrogates this idea in terms of the complex relationship between nationality and ethnicity. The images were gleaned from my activities in Kuala Lumpur and its surroundings. The titles delve deep into the Malay idioms and expressions.

Koboi Balik Kampung 1

~ The Koboi Project

1 MUDIK PULANG Koboi Balik Kampung Series, 12 Chromogenic Prints in a Limited Edition of 9, Niranjan Rajah, 2015
1 MUDIK PULANG
Koboi Balik Kampung, 12 Chromogenic Prints, 30″ X 20″, Limited Edition of 9, Copyright 2015 by Niranjan Rajah

The Koboi Balik Kampung photographic series was shot during my visit to Kuala Lumpur from Vancouver in 2013. The 13th general elections had just concluded in Malaysia and the excitement was still in the air. Meanwhile, the government of British Columbia had announced a multi-billion dollar LNG investment by PETRONAS. Indeed, I had returned home (balik kampung) to news of Malaysian hegemony in the British Columbian LNG market and to the stirrings of discontent, my ‘home away from home’. As the contradictory affectations of Malaysian pride and British Columbian dread resound in me, the irony of this merging of worlds has become an irrepressible muse and the impetus for starting this blog.