Expressions of resistance: social realist artworks of the Yiyanhui and the equator art society
During the 1950s, a social realist art movement emerged in Singapore featuring themes such as over-population, unemployment, exploitation of labour and various social ills. I argue that these social realist artworks may be read as expressions of resistance against a colonial discourse which represen...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Conference or Workshop Item |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
2016
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://eprints.um.edu.my/16607/1/Emelia_Ong_Ian_Li_Abstract_ASEASUK_2016_%281%29.pdf http://eprints.um.edu.my/16607/ |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1831449452248825856 |
|---|---|
| author | Emelia, O.I.L. |
| author_facet | Emelia, O.I.L. |
| author_sort | Emelia, O.I.L. |
| building | UM Library |
| collection | Institutional Repository |
| content_provider | Universiti Malaya |
| content_source | UM Research Repository |
| continent | Asia |
| country | Malaysia |
| description | During the 1950s, a social realist art movement emerged in Singapore featuring themes such as over-population, unemployment, exploitation of labour and various social ills. I argue that these social realist artworks may be read as expressions of resistance against a colonial discourse which represented Chinese identity in Malaya as opportunistic, untrustworthy, materialistic and susceptible to communist tendencies. The artworks may be viewed as a conjunctural response to the crisis within British Malaya after the war. These artists highlighted the inequalities of the colonial regime at a time when it was vulnerable and saw a possible path towards transformation that would lead to independence. Their anti-colonial stance and alignment with the other ethnic communities was consistently demonstrated through the repeating of non-communal themes in subject matter based on the working classes. As counter narratives, these artworks can thus be seen as strategies employed by a diasporic community to gain political agency and reconstruct Chinese identity within the Malayan nationalistic discourse. |
| format | Conference or Workshop Item |
| id | my.um.eprints-16607 |
| institution | Universiti Malaya |
| language | en |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | my.um.eprints-166072016-10-27T03:56:48Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/16607/ Expressions of resistance: social realist artworks of the Yiyanhui and the equator art society Emelia, O.I.L. H Social Sciences (General) NX Arts in general During the 1950s, a social realist art movement emerged in Singapore featuring themes such as over-population, unemployment, exploitation of labour and various social ills. I argue that these social realist artworks may be read as expressions of resistance against a colonial discourse which represented Chinese identity in Malaya as opportunistic, untrustworthy, materialistic and susceptible to communist tendencies. The artworks may be viewed as a conjunctural response to the crisis within British Malaya after the war. These artists highlighted the inequalities of the colonial regime at a time when it was vulnerable and saw a possible path towards transformation that would lead to independence. Their anti-colonial stance and alignment with the other ethnic communities was consistently demonstrated through the repeating of non-communal themes in subject matter based on the working classes. As counter narratives, these artworks can thus be seen as strategies employed by a diasporic community to gain political agency and reconstruct Chinese identity within the Malayan nationalistic discourse. 2016 Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://eprints.um.edu.my/16607/1/Emelia_Ong_Ian_Li_Abstract_ASEASUK_2016_%281%29.pdf Emelia, O.I.L. (2016) Expressions of resistance: social realist artworks of the Yiyanhui and the equator art society. In: ASEASUK Conference 2016, 16 - 18 September 2016, University of London, United Kingdom. |
| spellingShingle | H Social Sciences (General) NX Arts in general Emelia, O.I.L. Expressions of resistance: social realist artworks of the Yiyanhui and the equator art society |
| title | Expressions of resistance: social realist artworks of the Yiyanhui and the equator art society |
| title_full | Expressions of resistance: social realist artworks of the Yiyanhui and the equator art society |
| title_fullStr | Expressions of resistance: social realist artworks of the Yiyanhui and the equator art society |
| title_full_unstemmed | Expressions of resistance: social realist artworks of the Yiyanhui and the equator art society |
| title_short | Expressions of resistance: social realist artworks of the Yiyanhui and the equator art society |
| title_sort | expressions of resistance: social realist artworks of the yiyanhui and the equator art society |
| topic | H Social Sciences (General) NX Arts in general |
| url | http://eprints.um.edu.my/16607/1/Emelia_Ong_Ian_Li_Abstract_ASEASUK_2016_%281%29.pdf http://eprints.um.edu.my/16607/ |
| url_provider | http://eprints.um.edu.my/ |