GLISTEN: Artist Talk by Lisa Reihana

Held in conjunction with the opening of “GLISTEN”, the 7th Ng Teng Fong Roof Garden Commission, this talk featured Aotearoa New Zealander artist Lisa Reihana sharing about her practice and the manifestation of the artwork, followed by a conversation with curator Qinyi Lim, delving further into the reverberations of Western cultural hegemony—including language, culture, and gender dynamics—in the Pacific region, as well as the inherent Austronesian connections with Southeast Asia. The conversation also explored how living traditions and indigenous knowledge act as a counterpart to the narratives perpetuated by a singular Western modernity.

-
About the speakers

LISA REIHANA (Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāi Tūteauru, Ngāi Tūpoto; b. 1964, Aotearoa New Zealand) is a multi-disciplinary artist whose practice spans large scale video, digital art, sculpture, costume and body adornment, and photography. As a woman of Māori and Welsh-English descent, Reihana has worked towards expanded representations of Pacific and Māori identities, knowledge and cultures. Since the 1990s, she has claimed digital technologies and virtual space as realms where innovation meets ancestral knowledge. Lisa Reihana is a member of the Pacific Sisters, a Tāgata Moana art collective that emerged from the fringes of mainstream culture in Auckland in 1991.

QINYI LIM is Curator at National Gallery Singapore. She completed the de Appel Curatorial Programme, Amsterdam in 2012, and holds a Masters in Southeast Asian Studies from the National University of Singapore. Qinyi has held curatorial positions at Singapore Art Museum, NUS Museum and Para Site, Hong Kong. She has worked on various exhibitions, including “Tropical: Stories from Southeast Asia and Latin America” (National Gallery Singapore, 2023); Jakarta Biennale 2021: ESOK, “Antony Gormley” ( National Gallery Singapore, 2021), “Afterwork” (Para Site, Hongkong; Ilham Gallery, Kuala Lumpur 2016), “A luxury we cannot afford” (Para Site, Hong Kong, 2015), “Three Artists Walk into a Bar…” (de Appel Arts Centre, Amsterdam, 2012) and “Telah Terbit” (Singapore Art Museum, 2006).

-
About “GLISTEN”

“GLISTEN” is the seventh iteration of the Ng Teng Fong Roof Garden Commission series. This kinetic sculpture emerges from Reihana’s longstanding research into Māori ancestral knowledge, materials and costumes. Drawing from indigenous handwoven disciplines such as Southeast Asia’s Songket and Māori Tāniko weaving, Reihana innovatively integrates contemporary designs to craft a mural of playful, shimmering colours activated by its surroundings. This sculptural mural honours the traditions, labour and pivotal roles of Songket and Tāniko’s women weavers as makers, communicators, knowledge bearers and mediators prior to the Asia Pacific region’s first contact with Western culture. “GLISTEN” points towards the plurality of feminisms that existed in pre-colonial societies and continue to persist in the Asia Pacific. “GLISTEN” invites the public of all ages to gather together and experience the celebratory and joyful nature of the artwork.

-
Go to www.nationalgallery.sg for more content and to plan your visit today!

-
Disclaimer

This video has been edited for clarity and concision. The opinions expressed in this video may not represent the views of National Gallery Singapore. Every effort has been made to obtain permission for the material in this video. Copyright within this video belongs to its respective owners and shall not be reproduced without permission.

#NationalGallerySingapore #NgTengFongRoofGardenCommission #LisaReihana #GLISTEN