Secret Letter to a Friend in Banjarmasin, 2024
oil and mixed media on xuan paper
(H) 35 x (W) 59 x (D) 3 cm
oil and mixed media on xuan paper
(H) 35 x (W) 59 x (D) 3 cm
In collaboration with ChatGPT, ‘Secret Letter to a Friend in Banjarmasin’ is a speculative reconstruction of a concealed correspondence between Stamford Raffles (‘founder’ of the port city of Singapore), in his previous role as the British Lieutenant-Governor of Java, and Alexander Hare, the Governor of Banjarmasin. The dialogue touches upon the Banjarmasin affair, wherein Raffles facilitated the provision of women to Hare’s settlement, procured through ‘coercive and unjustifiable means’ (Barley, ‘The Man Who Collected Women’), as a favour to a friend. This painting ventures into the lesser-known aspects of colonial history, reveals the darker narratives often omitted from Raffles’ biographical accounts.
The fates of the women entangled in the Banjarmasin affair remain largely unchronicled in historical archives. Their lives were ensnared by the colonial apparatus, which regarded them as commodities rather than individuals endowed with rights and autonomy. In the wake of such episodes, these women were often with few options for justice or restitution, as the colonial legal framework and societal conventions offered scant support.
Inspired by Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s ‘Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre’, Raffles is summoned back from the dead in the guise of the spectre, compelling him to confront the repercussions of his deeds. The work poses the poignant inquiry: What became of these dispossessed Javanese women?
The fates of the women entangled in the Banjarmasin affair remain largely unchronicled in historical archives. Their lives were ensnared by the colonial apparatus, which regarded them as commodities rather than individuals endowed with rights and autonomy. In the wake of such episodes, these women were often with few options for justice or restitution, as the colonial legal framework and societal conventions offered scant support.
Inspired by Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s ‘Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre’, Raffles is summoned back from the dead in the guise of the spectre, compelling him to confront the repercussions of his deeds. The work poses the poignant inquiry: What became of these dispossessed Javanese women?