Malaysia
Five Arts Center
A Notional History is a continuation of a series of research and creative projects since 2004 that have engaged with narratives surrounding the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960). These works have taken the form of performances, exhibitions and visual arts installations. They also include the documentary 10 Tahun Sebelum Merdeka (2007), the 11-day Emergency Festival (2008), the Re:Search Re:Source presentations and participatory events (2008), as well as Baling (2005-ongoing), a series of documentary performances investigating the1955 Baling Talks, which are the peace talks between elected government representatives and the banned Malayan Communist Party.
※ The Malayan Emergency (1948–1960) was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya (currently Malaysia) between the armed communist pro-independence group of the Malayan National Liberation Army and the military forces of the Federation of Malaya, the British Empire and the Commonwealth.
In 2018, after 14 general elections and 61 years under the same regime, Malaysian citizens finally voted out the Barisan Nasional government that had been in power since 1957 - the year of Malayan independence from the British. In 2008, on the 60th anniversary of the start of the Malayan Emergency, a video documentary - about an unfulfilled revolution - was left unfinished. In 2020, a revised textbook on 20th century Malayan-Malaysian history will be produced under a new government - updated with new additions, figures, erasures, exclusions and blind-spots. Employing and frictioning materials from the uncompleted documentary, the existing and ‘new’ history books, and the artists’ own lives and experiences, A Notional History seeks to investigate the possible histories for #MalaysiaBaharu (New Malaysia), intersecting the personal, the national, and the notional.
Mark Teh
Mark Teh is a researcher and performance maker based in Kuala Lumpur. His diverse, collaborative projects are particularly engaged with the issues of history, memory and the urban context, often taking on documentary and speculative forms. His practice is situated primarily in performance, but also operates via exhibitions, interventions, writing, curating, and education. Mark graduated with an MA in Art and Politics from Goldsmiths, University of London, and is a member of Five Arts Centre, a collective of interdisciplinary artists, producers and activists in Malaysia.
Director ｜Mark Teh
Production Designer ｜ Wong Tay Sy
Lighting Designer ｜Syamsul Azhar
Performers ｜Fahmi Reza, Faiq Syazwan Kuhiri, Rahmah Pauzi
Producer June Tan
Stage Manager ｜ Darynn Wee
Executive Producer ｜Five Arts Centre (Malaysia)
Co-production TPAM - Performing Arts Meeting in Yokohama (Japan)
“What was necessary in Malaysia was not the united voice of the nation, but the spaces where multiplicity was explored, experienced and experimented…”
- Ken Takiguchi
Five Arts Centre is a dynamic collective of Malaysian artists, activists, and producers, dedicated to generating alternative art forms and images in the contemporary arts landscape. It is well-known for cutting edge performances in theatre, dance, music, and young people’s theatre, and incorporates aspects of the visual and digital arts as well. The collective has performed and presented its work across Southeast Asia, as well as in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, India, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Greece, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Finland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.
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