The Eighth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

all important Bornean expressions with parallels throughout the region and that they spoke of continuity and change. It was rejected, however, by most of my fellow curators because the people I proposed were not considered artists. Jainal Amambing from Kudat, north Sabah, was finally selected and typifies the problems faced by Bornean artists at the Biennale. Jainal is highly respected in Sabah and has won international prizes for his children’s books. All his paintings are about his memories growing up in an indigenous Rungus longhouse that no longer exists today. Jainal created five paintings specifically for the theme. The first four depicted memories from his childhood. In them you see a young boy playing with traditional Rungus toys, learning Rungus knowledge, like basket weaving, how to catch a chicken for dinner, how to entertain guests in a longhouse. These paintings are highly detailed, capturing the Rungus world through flora and fauna or with patterns and motifs. The fifth painting depicts the same young boy, now wearing the Malaysian national school uniform, carrying a school bag and crossing a bridge, leaving his village behind to learn new knowledge. As far as Jainal was concerned, he was producing contemporary art because he used paint (as opposed to traditional materials) to comment on contemporary worldviews, and he was standing up next to other contemporary artists from the region when art from Sabah and Sarawak is rarely present or even included in Malaysian art history. All the Biennale audience seemed to see, however, was his naïve painting style and his loaded commentary was largely lost. JAINAL AMAMBING My Longhouse Story (1) 2013 Oil on canvas / 122 x 304cm My Longhouse Story (5) 2013 Oil on canvas / 122 x 183cm Commissioned for Singapore Biennale 2013 / Images courtesy: Singapore Art Museum / © Jainal Amambing 222—223 APT8 ROUND TABLE