The Eighth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

This perspective and process are both shared by Khmer artist Anida Yoeu Ali in her Buddhist Bug performances. Stretching up to 100 metres in length, Ali’s vibrant, orange, tubular ‘Bug’ is most often found snaking its way into and around a number of urban and rural landscapes of the artist’s native Cambodia. With the artist’s face at the head and a mysterious pair of feet extending from the opposite end, this creature performs slow movements and small gestures. For APT8, Ali presents a new work featuring the Buddhist Bug sampling the night life to be found in today’s bustling Phnom Penh. Somewhat alien in this environment, the Bug maintains its steady, slow engagement, emanating a sense of grounded mindfulness. The creature was inspired by Ali’s fascination, as a Khmer Muslim woman, with the predominant Cambodian Buddhist faith; in its movements and adoption of the rich colour of a monk’s robes, the Bug directly references this faith. It is, however, undeniably not part of the predominantly Buddhist crowd of Phnom Penh’s karaoke bars and street hawker stalls — and the artist cites experiences of otherness, hybridity and the desire for transcendence as central to this performance project. Key to Ali’s understanding of transcendence is the act of embodied engagement, as she says: Meters and meters of textile act as skin, as a way for the surface of my body to extend into public spaces and as a metaphoric device for stories to spread across an expanse . . . I believe performing narratives is an act of social engagement and contributes to collective healing. 5 Often requiring minimal infrastructure and materials, and able to be staged in discrete, private venues away from state surveillance, performance has become a major form of artistic expression in Cambodia. The Buddhist Bug performances engage with the social and cultural ANIDA YOEUALI Cambodia/USA b.1974 The Buddhist Bug, Into the Night (stills) 2015 Two-channel HD video projection, 7:00 minutes (looped), colour, sound, ed. of 5 / A project of Studio Revolt. Concept and performance: Anida Yoeu Ali; Video: Masahiro Sugano / Commissioned for APT8. The Kenneth and Yasuko Myer Collection of Contemporary Asian Art. Purchased 2015 with funds fromMichael Sidney Myer through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery 86—87 WHERE DOWE COME FROM? WHAT ARE WE? WHERE ARE WE GOING?