Doghole

Active internationally across Asia and beyond, Wong Hoy Cheong is a leading contemporary artist from Penang, Malaysia. The underlying themes of his work, produced in a wide range of media, including painting, film and installation, is an approach of revealing hidden narratives within transitions in history and complex power relations. This work can be seen as a continuation of "Sook Ching" (1989), also in the museum's collection, and deals with his father's wartime experience that could not be addressed in the past work. This entails the story of his time as a prisoner of war as a young man, held by the Japanese army, the harsh treatment and executions of his compatriots in the concentration camp, and despite various terrible events, his eventual miraculous release. A violent irrational reality and a waking dream-like fantasy world are subtly interlaced in a mixture of animation and real images, rendering a remarkable work of film. (NT)