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Making Mamak in Montréal - The Blueprint 29 AUG 24 In between Island < > Peninsular < > Island, I travelled back to Montréal, one year after I started the project in the same city, same institution of the CCA @canadiancentreforarchitecture . In my talk, I laid out the blueprint on three tables where the audience gathered around. Inviting them to peruse and ask questions, my talk discusses how the collectives embed and negotiate spatial politics of their sites. Designed by @constantvariable.cv , the blueprint is to simply present the data collected for further investigation. I say, “Making Mamak also tests the notion of civic spaces, programming a space for the public but not by public funding or government, but rather programming your own civic management – commoning,” a testament to rethink beyond our reliance on welfare state. I talked about key concepts such as gotong-royong, aunties and uncles, and the sentience and spirituality of space almost like another member. Last year, Making Mamak had a different name, the Precarity of Gathering, and a speculative possibility of a performance lecture of an imaginary arts council. Through the process of curating, it changed into a workshop, an edifice of my public arts days. Coming back to the island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was a homecoming like no other. We engaged with other artist collectives (or artist centres, institutionalised by province-level arts funding in Quebec). and I went to visit DARE-DARE @daredaremtl in Little Burgundy and talked to the coordinator of Ada-X @ada_x_mtl further and imagined floating libraries with @tyramaria.trono and @painwithoutrage .We drew lines of a site-specific practice that held multiple mappings of place and community. Thankful for friends who came to my small sharing.

I went to Egypt with a tight tendon on my left shoulder. Just before, I had the most uninhibited weekend. Danced at OIL to ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U. Woke up to 廣式腸粉, downed 2 bottles of 維他奶. Egypt is a dust storm of energy. Crumbling under my fingertips, I was drawn into a new dryness unlike any other. Loud, unrelenting, the reconstructed histories of the city fall upon one another, with hanging Coptic churches, to Masjids, and Synagogues in the same place.  It spoke of a cosmopolitanism, a condition of both unity and diversity. It holds multitudes but speaks to encounters with one another. Concurrently, there is a resistance to globalisation, a resistance to a flattened capital-driven condition. Instead, it calls for reflexivity of the self. Notes I took from the keynote on ‘What is a Tradition? Cosmopolitanism as a Living Tradition’ by Gerard Delanty “fusion of horizons - the tradition of context, the horizon is the range of vision, everything that can be seen from a particular vantage point. The movement of human life, is not bound by one point, it is something that moves, & moves with us. The horizon of the present is being continuously formed. It cannot be formed by the past. It encounters with the self, and another” We climbed to the top of an old Masjid minaret, which became a madrasa, in another lifetime. I saw history in constant renovation & the debris of palimpsest on the city. I presented about art collectives in msia and posed a question about the circulation of reclaimed Southeast Asian hard timber, is it for the Instagram effect reinforce the image of sustainability? This is juxtaposed against forms of collective practice using generic building material distributed on a global scale, plywood, concrete and steel sections. What is our material tradition? Is it imbued in the materiality of place, action of collective labour to cultivate place memory? I also presented a paper on behalf of Adam Jasper, on the theoretical underpinnings of Balinese cybernetic traditions first documented by Stephen Lansing. We had a great conversation about vernacular traditions and how we ponder about the validity as infrastructure today. Thank you to the best supervisors

Making Mamak: Collective Ecologies of Urban Space APR 22 - SEP 24 Developed as part of the Emerging Curatorial Residency at the @canadiancentreforarchitecture , Making Mamak is a curatorial tool, a workshop methodology to use tools of mapping to explore a collective ecology of relations. Other than a tool, it is also the moment of encounters akin to a mamak stall. ‘A mamak stall, commonly referred as “mamak” alone, is an accessible and unpretentious social gathering place distinct to the Malaysian (and Singaporean) social milieu. It is typically a place where friends, colleagues, families gather—at any hour of the day or night—to eat, gossip, have discussions; more generally, they are social spaces for collective gathering.’ - written with @notnotganymede When discussing this with folks in Malaysia, there is a distinction between lepak in the roadside by the carpark, the nasi kandar vs. mamak, sitting on grass just outside the premises, or malay roti canai stalls. In all these shifting, living typology, all encompass a moment of making. To make kin, to build connection, to share time, to speak in relation to. We compiled the findings into a blueprint, a document designed by @constantvariable.cv Five arts collectives (Little Giraffe Story House, COEX@kilang besi, Ruang Tamu Ekosistem, Papanhaus and Kapallorek) were invited to participate in a: 27 APR 24 Mapping Workshop with collectives at Papanhaus 28 APR 24 Conversation on Collective Spatial Practices on Arts Communities with Yap Sau Bin @yapsau and Cheah Ee Von @cheaheevon at Papanhaus 29 AUG 24 Making Mamak in Montréal to present the blueprint (invited in spirit via the blueprint) with DARE-DARE @daredaremtl , Ada X, Daphne and Articule photos by @constantvariable.cv

On Collaboration: The Relationships That Make or Unmake a Project A curatorial sharing session by Karie Liao, Assistant Curator, Blackwood Gallery 🗓️ 16 April 2026 (Thursday) ⏰ 8:00pm - 9:30pm 📍 Deck, Hin Bus Depot *Walk-ins are welcome and admission is free. Do arrive early to secure a seat. ​Collaboration is messy. This talk traces Karie Liao's curatorial practice through three projects built outside institutional walls—spaces where relationships are closer, stakes are personal, and the lines between friend, neighbour, and collaborator blur. Exploring CAFKA.14 (a public art biennial in Kitchener), the Toronto Art Book Fair (a free festival of printed matter), and the Kamias Triennial 4 (a deliberately intimate alternative to the typical large-scale biennial), this sharing surfaces essential questions about shared authority, equitable labour, and what collaboration truly demands in practice. ​ Additionally, Karie will be joined by Clarissa to discuss their collaborative research project, Bloodwork. Why We Are Here: Listening & Exchange For Karie and Clarissa, this visit begins with listening. The goal is to meet local artists, understand their practices, and learn firsthand how practitioners in Malaysia are navigating the contemporary art landscape. ​This exchange feeds into a broader inquiry: How can diaspora and transnational communities share tactics of mutual aid and collective practice to resist an over-reliance on government funding and build sustainable arts ecologies? As co-curator of the Kamias Triennale, Karie is also looking forward to exploring opportunities for future collaborations between Canada, the Philippines, and Malaysia. Image credit: Mary Mattingly, House and Universe: Sphere, Performance, 2014, part of CAFKA.14. Photo by Robert McNair. #hinbusdepot #ruangkongsi

Part III: Langkawi > KL Coming back to KL was quick head dive into work. Kuala Lumpur Art Book Fair (KLABF) was months in the making. We pulled so many friends together, from old pals such as Lisa, Jason, and Jowin to neighbours such as Justina, and pals of pals like Dina. Friends dropped by Bibi, Naadiya, Paul, Zikri, Ali, CY, residency friends, and many others. It was such a celebration and homecoming I never expected. Building bridges to build collective life. I was tired to my bones (and I still am, writing this omw bk from Kuala Terengganu). Back to back talks at the Langkawi, to KLABF, and Lintas Benua talk at Tintabudi, I was running on the fumes of gatherings, on one brain cell that held on tightly to comprehend the shifting world. We talked about Making Mamak at KLABF and got questions interrogating the movements of collective thought. On what made us shift towards cultural policy work. Educator < Researcher > Practitioner lens made me consider the role of a reflexive practice. We must rest. recoup and think how to venture forth again. To work in conversation with existing systems. We celebrated dear Husna for finally graduating. An end of an era connected to UM when we were constantly gaslit by difficult administrative systems. This is where I was enveloped in Southeast Asian art, when I decided, yes, why not Malaysia? And I learned everything again. Flash back to when we went on a walk in the middle of the night, sitting on the edge of a longkang in another hill staring at the city. Rumbling, unrelenting, the air was still. What if could I tear the sadness of the city away from all it seeped through? What if we? So I emptied it all out one day. Standing on the same sands I buried my promises with runic stones in 2019, I sank my whole body into the sea. I choose to now live five minutes from that same beach. 望住日落, again, to choose otherwise.

Part II: Ipoh > Langkawi HK < > Malaysia holds my migratory pathways close to the gut. I tremble every time I land back in Kuala Lumpur - my new entry point away from Penang, what was(is) a home.「你平時po開邊度? 」 an artist asked me one day,「 吉隆坡啩 ~ 」 A little piece of me broke off, fell, and melted into the river bank earlier last year. 滲落去。It takes a lot. A lot to carve through lands with reformed relations. Choosing to draw new lines on an old map, is to crack open a tired, tired heart. My dear neighbour, who came with me, said, "Wow, you have a whole life here." I turned to her, "but it is always in construction." I never thought to live in Malaysia ten years ago. My mother fell ill, I stayed in Hong Kong, just as everyone left. Malaysia was patient. Formed by lands-in-waiting, it swallowed me whole and spit me out many times over, until I held my own. I landed in Kuala Lumpur diving head first to a Mew concert. It was their last tour with Jonas as the lead singer. I cried. Then, was enveloped into a research residency moving between Ipoh, Seri Iskandar, Kuala Perlis, Langkawi in the monsoon rains. Langkawi held my senses in a mist - only on the last two days did the blue sky opened as thundering clouds waned just very slightly. We lived in nine villas first built by a Tan Sri sandwiched by grieving rubber plantations. Bukit Wang and Malut turned to face me, egging me to choose onwards instead of being swept away by the vapid barks and hoarse trills beckoning from the forest. We visited damp, humid art spaces that smelled of moss, tucked into the side of Gunung Raya. We learned about the curses and mythologies that might've happened, or not. We ran away into the dead of the city centre, to be met with barely open food stalls and the dead of the night at Kuah. Decorated bridges of pastel colours were dusty, until the rain fell again. We pulled our caps on and stumbled through the dark with our teh o limau ais kosong. Zikri brought us to Dataran Lang through a commonwealth games commemoration garden of garish cariacatures of allegorical myths that held Langkawi in a curse for seven generations. So we took photographs as cyanotypes, of the island.

🐳〈浮線日誌〉展覽完成 🐳 展覽已經喺啱啱嘅禮拜日結束，多謝所有嚟睇展覽嘅人！呢個紀錄算係為展覽作個小結（多謝Pak Hang嘅錄像 🪐）。 由初初搬入島意識到嘅不便，同埋時興嘅「慢活」同「人情味」，到喺島度攪活動同展覽，慢慢思索船、島同海本身，「島」呢個題目亦由一個對遠離繁囂嘅美好想像，擴展成對島同海嘅地/海貌本身帶嚟嘅根本變化。呢個題目好似成日比喻為海嘅潛意識咁，越潛越似有更加深邃巨大嘅未知蘊藏住，而呢一切都係呢個小島畀我嘅。 今次做得成都係全靠以下咁多位：🏝住喺南丫島嘅Clar身兼策展人同設計師，同佢傾偈令呢條浮線更加柔韌，畀咗好多我冇諗過嘅有趣角度同提議我；🏖坪洲街坊Gloria係強大嘅監製，一切喺佢底下只會有多冇少；🚤住喺長洲嘅豉油製作展覽，好多人第一句都係話set得靚；🛶製作LED嘅Tobias，非常認真盡善盡美；🚢最後要多謝坪洲戲院借出場地同支援，⛵️特別係船到橋頭生活節嘅拍檔Kit。 下次見 🌊！ 🐳 ‘How to draw a line across the sea?’ completed 🐳 The exhibition has concluded on last Sunday. Thank you everybody who visited! Here is a documentation to close out this chapter (Thank you Pak Hang for the video 🪐!). The inconvenience, slowness and sense of community I became aware when I first moved to the island has gradually become the exploration of the ferry, island and the sea. Likewise, the notion of the island has expanded from an ideal away from the city to the fundamental transformation the topography of the island and the sea brings. It is probably something unconscious (for which the sea is a metaphor). Something deeper and greater lies underneath, and I've got all these from this small island. Shoutout to everyone who helped make this happen: 🏝 Lamma islander Clar is the curator-cum-designer who offered insights with great sensibilities through our numerous conversations; 🏖 Fellow Peng Chauer Gloria is, as always, the impeccable producer, being invited late but managed get things in place swiftly; 🚤Cheung Chauer Damon’s professional set up has won a lot of praise; 🛶 Tobias’s meticulous LED production has made the work at least as good as I imagined; 🚢 and of course Peng Chau Cinema for renting the venue and all the support, ⛵️especially Inter-island Festival’s partner Kit. Till next time 🌊!

part I: KL > Ipoh > Langkawi nov > dec 2025 Yet another long day's journey into the night throughout Malaysia, cementing and reconstructing my relationship with the ever confusing nation state. I have been back four times this year. The pull towards home had never been stronger this time around. Pushed to rep the complexity that is Malaysia in an international residency for the second time after Making Mamak, I am put in a tenuous position of reconciling with my own frustrations with home (1) I was given by birth. But the fog moves, floods subside, and the drone show ends. And I fall again for these lands, my friends and loved ones. [1] Drone show from hotel, post mew [2] godown hangs in chapatti house [3] first teh o limau ais kosong kurang ais [4] tapak house perak lunch makan + durian kuah [5] prayer altar quranic caligraphy of the original tapak vernacular malay house - perak house, next to sungai perak [6] ouning's utopian field research [7] kapallorek [8] 5XL shirt-dress [9] flute exchange between jiangxi < sf > perak [10] sentAp! issue on the late Ise - rare find [11] family mart merch cos important ft. tamtam [12] travelling to Langkawi [13] Gogu site-specific installation performance art of pillow > head balance game [14] and the clouds slowly move away from gunung raya [15] ryan and puppers at bonton [16] personality tests, for bms folks [17] forever stan of cinnamoroll [18] that one day we ran way to jalan2 Langkawi [19] crazy commonwealth park with mystical monuments of curses and mythologies of langkawi. Maintained, with no one traversing through other than many birds [20] villa 6~7 selfie, with a dear rose emoji reppin' rose + bats when she marceline's it out of her room

浮線日誌 How to draw a line across the sea? 展覽開咗兩個禮拜了。展場坪洲戲院除咗近到由屋企行兩分鐘就到，亦令到接觸嘅觀眾都幾唔同，以路過遊客同坪洲街坊為主。遊客方面，雖然唔少人望兩望就走，但有人認真細心地睇嗰陣，就會覺得欣慰。至於坪洲街坊，其實好多都識得或半生不熟，但一路冇乜機會傾多啲偈，而家有個展覽好似多咗個話題咁，將大家住島嘅經歷同感受相連。有個街坊話，若果展覽唔係喺坪洲，少咗搭船入嚟嗰下，成個體驗就會好唔同。我十分認同。 平時做作品拖，今次拖得特別多，可能係因為「近」。近在坪洲日對夜對八年半，近在周圍都係街坊，近在佢係「家」，越近嘅嘢越難去講得真心得嚟又唔骨痺唔作狀之餘重要搵到新嘢講。幾經掙扎生咗個展覽出嚟，覺得自己同作品入面望到嘅風景、搭船呢件事，同埋呢個「家」嘅關係唔同咗，可能似策展人介紹畀我嘅palimpest（未諗到好嘅中文翻譯）咁多咗一重印記。 展覽話就話重有三個禮拜（到12月21號），其實開四至日就得返12日。今個禮拜六5pm同@carolinehathuc 有個海洋視覺嘅對談，我禮拜六日都自己看場，得閒可以嚟傾吓偈 🐳 - The exhibition has already opened for 2 weeks. Compared to other venues, Peng Chau Cinema attracts a very different crowd—mainly local tourists and Peng Chau residents. Most tourists leave after a quick look, but there are also people who spend time on the works. Many Peng Chau residents are familiar faces, but I've never had the chance to get to know more. The exhibition is like an icebreaker, connecting our experiences and feelings about living on the island. One kai-fong said that if the exhibition wasn't on Peng Chau, without needing to cross the sea to come, the whole experience would be rather different. Absolutely. I tend to procrastinate on my art projects, but it was especially bad this time, maybe because of the exhibition's closeness — having lived on Peng Chau with friends and kai-fongs around for eight and a half years, this island is now home. The closer something is, the harder it is to talk about it sincerely with new viewpoints and without being sentimental or pretentious. Now, the exhibition is finally on view. I feel my relationship with the views in the works, with the ferry ride, and with this home has changed — acquiring another additional layer to the palimpsest (a word I learnt from the curator). The exhibition has three more weeks to go till December 21, but it's only open from Thursday to Sunday i.e. 12 more days! There’ll be a talk titled Oceanic Perspectives with @carolinehathuc on this Saturday 6 Dec 5pm. I station at the show at weekends, Feel free to come by and say hi 🐳 - Curator & visual designer: @cl44r ; Producer: @gloriaf_lam ; Exhibition production: soy sauce ; LED Technical production: @tobiastang ; 📸: @studio.lights.on

🌊 浮線日誌 🦭 簡介 〈浮線日誌〉是葉啟俊的個人展覽，展出六件取材自陸地與海洋交界的作品。展覽繞過視「離島」為「世界以外」的浪漫想像，追溯劃分海洋界線的第一步，思索在世界畫上標記和「線」的舉措。作品叩問：誰可在自然地貌（海貌？）中畫上這些無形的線？ 🌊 How to draw a line across the sea? 🦭 introduction ‘How to draw a line across the sea?’ is a solo exhibition by Yip Kai Chun, featuring six pieces emerging between land and sea. Confronting the romantic visage of the ‘outlying island’ from the ‘rest of the world’, the exhibition challenges the very first step of demarcating our seas—to question the act of mark-making, of imprinting a line. The artworks evoke the question: Who has the agency to map these invisible lines onto our natural landscapes? - - - 🌊 浮線日誌 🚤 🌊 How to draw a line across the sea? 🚤 葉啟俊個展 A solo exhibition of Yip Kai Chun 林凱琍策展 Curated in conversation with Clarissa Lim 📆 15.11.2025 (六 Sat) - 21.12.2025 (日 Sun) 1pm-7pm, 🕐 逢四至日 every Thur-Sun 其他參觀時間可預約 Visit at other times by appointment 🏡 坪洲戲院 Peng Chau Cinema 坪洲圍仔街15號地下｜G/F, 15 Wai Tsai Street, Peng Chau

🌊 浮線日誌 🚤 我鍾意坐船，特別鍾意坐坪洲-中環嘅船。唔係鍾意九大簋式嘅鍾意，而係鍾意阿媽整嘅鹹蛋蒸肉餅式嘅鍾意，唔經唔覺鍾意咗八年半。打開五感咁坐船，先至會有呢個展覽。（定係倒返轉？）而家喺船上面寫呢個post，有啲違背咗我近日全心坐船嘅專注。 展覽由11.15(六)到12.21(日)，想其他時間參觀，或者想我喺度都可以話我知。詳情請睇bio條link 🐬 🌊 How to draw a line across the sea? 🚤 I love riding ferries, especially the ferry ride between Peng Chau and Central. Not in a stimulated way, but in an everyday way. It has been my homey ferry ride since 2017, and finding stimulation on this ferry ride is how this exhibition comes to life. (Or the other way around?) I wish I could keep finding new and enjoyable things in each and every ride. The exhibition opens from 15 Nov (Sat) to 21 Dec (Sun) every Thur-Sun. Feel free to ping me for an off-hour visit! Let me know in advance and I am happy to be there. More info in bio 🐬 - - - 🌊 浮線日誌 🚤 🌊 How to draw a line across the sea? 🚤 葉啟俊個展 A solo exhibition of Yip Kai Chun 林凱琍策展 Curated in conversation with Clarissa Lim 📆 15.11.2025 (六 Sat) - 21.12.2025 (日 Sun) 1pm-7pm, 🕐 逢四至日 every Thur-Sun 其他參觀時間可預約 Visit at other times by appointment 🏡 坪洲戲院 Peng Chau Cinema 坪洲圍仔街15號地下｜G/F, 15 Wai Tsai Street, Peng Chau

We are in the final stretch! T-3 Days left to join the survey! Tell a friend, share the link, and let your voice be heard. Deadlines for both surveys are extended to the 22 August 2025. Click the link in our bio! - Kami berada di bahagian akhir! T-3 hari lagi untuk menyertai tinjauan! Beritahu rakan, kongsi pautan, dan biarkan suara anda didengari. Tarikh akhir untuk kedua-dua tinjauan dilanjutkan kepada 22 Ogos 2025. Klik pautan dalam bio kami! #ERTI #ERTIMY #ERTISG #collective #creativeeconomy #creative #economy #art #policy #UNESCO #temasekfoundation #ekonomikreatif #eokonomi #kreatif #seni #polisi