Hand-bound manuscript
Ink and Graphite on Paper
Manuscript: 30 x 30 cm
Scrolls: 30 x 100 cm
Part of Lineage: The Winston Oh Travelogue Award’s 25th anniversary exhibition
Praxis Space, Project Space and Brother Joseph McNally Gallery, LASALLE College of the Arts
27 September 2024
The work presents the dialogues between traveller and scribe as a meta-manuscript, documenting the journey of the artist in Borneo and the creation of the artwork through diaristic entries and conversations, photo essays, and poetic analyses of ideographic scriptures. The work manifests itself as a hand-bound book alongside two scrolls acting as an abstract visual synopsis of the book. The manuscript explores ergodic literature i.e. a nontrivial effort is required for the reader to traverse the text; a text not necessarily read or understood, but experienced viscerally.
A reference to the expeditions of Admiral Zheng He in 大德南海志 (Chronicles of the South Seas) from the 11th century. The work alludes to the cultural exchange between Ancient China and Borneo, the objects of trade and how they present the people to us, before exploring its place as an artwork and of the journey itself.
The travelogue is a collaboration between Zheng Jialei and Billie Sng, with their intersecting practices and research on language and writing.
