A woman’s identity is shaped not only by her biological sex but also profoundly by social and cultural factors. As Simone de Beauvoir powerfully stated, “One is not born, but becomes a woman.” The group exhibition ‘Disobedient Bodies: Reclaiming Her’ features eight female artists from seven Asian countries—Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. It deconstructs traditional narratives about women’s image and role in society, culture, and tradition. Exploring themes of motherhood, homeland, trauma, resilience, and religion, the exhibition is described by curator Loredana Pazzini-Paracciani as “not a feminist manifesto, but a bridge to foster dialogue between patriarchal social expectations and self-ownership.”
Two hands with impossibly long red nails welcome visitors to the exhibition. Created by Lê Hiền Minh (b. 1979, Vietnam), ‘Invisible Dragon’, 2023 challenges the depiction of Vietnamese women, who are often portrayed as sexy and aggressive through a Euro-American lens. In ‘Apocalypse Nail’, 2024, Minh combines acrylic nails with an AK-47, the rifle used by American soldiers during the Vietnam War, a conflict that continues to resonate in Western popular culture 50 years after its end. This body of work emerged from the artist’s interest in female labour, leading her to research the lives of Vietnamese nail technicians, the iconic occupation for her compatriots in the United States. The sculpture works are accompanied by the single-channel video ‘Nail Women’, 2023, featuring women discussing their lives, the Vietnamese female identity, their resilience, and their determination to succeed, aiming to shift our perceptions. Originally from northern Hanoi, she adopted a southern Vietnamese accent to better connect with the women she interviewed.
Similarly dealing with memories of conflict, Maria Madeira (b. 1966, Timor-Leste) presents artworks using traditional textiles, paints and unconventional materials such as lipstick, red earth from her birthplace, and betel nut juice to depict lips. Far from being a poetic memory of long-lost love, these lips echo a dark past, when Indonesian soldiers raped Timor-Leste women to obtain information about their husbands, sons and brothers. They were forced to put lipstick on, and the marks were left on the walls of the torture chambers. Maria Madeira brought this dark history to the 60th Venice Biennale, where she represented Timor-Leste in the country’s first-ever national participation with the performance ‘Kiss and Don’t Tell’.
The video ‘What’s softest in the world rushes and runs over what’s hardest in the world’, 2024 by Charmaine Poh (b.1990, Singapore) was also presented at the 60th Venice Biennale. It was commissioned for the International Art Exhibition ‘Foreigners Everywhere’ (April to November 2024), and it highlights the experiences of queer families with raising their children in a society that legally doesn’t recognise non-heterosexual marriage. The work has been rated R21 by Singapore authorities, creating several hurdles for its public screening. Instead, a grey rectangle with a spotlight has been placed on the gallery wall to indicate its absence.
The exhibition features various artists exploring the theme of motherhood. Peihang Benoît (b. 1984, Taiwan) presents paintings that reflect the fragmentation of her identity as both a mother and an artist and the desire to reaffirm herself in her diasporic life, having lived in the USA, the UK, and now France. At the exhibition opening, the artist shared that this was her first solo trip since becoming a mother six years ago.
Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook (b. 1957, Thailand), the most senior artist in the exhibition, a feminist and rules-breaker, has been looking into Thailand’s traditional patriarchal society for decades. Her new video features her interactions with the dog she rescued at Chaow Laem Beach, which has since become her constant companion. ‘Eastern Border Beach of Chaow Lae’, 2024 expands the notion of motherhood and shines a light on relationships between humans and non-humans, drawing attention to our connection with nature.
The constraints set by religion and traditional cultures appear in ‘Rebirth-Green Peafowl’, 2024, a ceramic piece by Soe Yu Nwe (b. 1989, Myanmar) – the largest she has created to date. It shows a part human/part snake/part plant creature giving birth to a peacock, which is Myanmar’s national symbol. The snake, known for its ability to change through shedding its skin, serves as a metaphor for transformation and hope for a brighter future for her country, emphasising increased opportunities for women and the general population. Three other smaller ceramic pieces explore the myth of the Sandha Mukhi ogress, who offered her breast to the Buddha and was rewarded with reincarnation as the King of Mandalay 2,400 years later. The artist raises questions about the sacrifices associated with the female body and the notion that, in Buddhism, women’s bodies cannot attain enlightenment and must reincarnate as men.
Religion and traditional references are present in the works of two other artists. Pannaphan Yodmanee (b. 1988, Thailand), who trained in traditional Thai painting from the age of ten, creates mixed-media pieces that evoke the imagery of decaying murals and demolition sites. In this exhibition, she blends the Christian iconography of Adam and Eve with the traditional Thai Buddhist aesthetic. The painting and sculpture ‘Cosmic Mother of the Universe’, 2024 combine male and female elements, Buddhist and Christian symbols, and markings found in street art and examines the power dynamics between genders in various religions and society as a whole. Nadiah Bamadhaj (b. 1968, Malaysia) uses the batik style of Indonesia, where she resides, in her collaged drawings. She replaces traditional iconography with images of stop signs, a womb, and winged feet, which serve as metaphors for control and consent. The titles of her works—’Taking No for an Answer,’ ‘The Flaming Womb,’ and ‘Moving Above Realms’—clearly convey her message.
‘Disobedient Bodies: Reclaiming Her’ continues the curator’s exploration of female subjects, which began with ‘Body, Community and Society: She is House’. This exhibition, held at 333 Gallery in Bangkok in June and July 2023, examined the multiple meanings associated with the body and showcased the works of Indonesian artists Mella Jaarsma, Maharani Mancanagara, Citra Sasmita, and Natasha Tontey.
While conversations about the female universe, including motherhood, violence against women, gender inequality and the place of women in traditional and patriarchal societies, are not new, history seems to bring these issues back in cycles, and it is essential to keep the conversation alive. ‘Disobedient Bodies: Reclaiming Her’ brings together artists born in five decades (1950s to 1990s) working in various mediums, including painting, drawing, ceramics, video, installation, and photography. However, there is unity in the approach, and even when dealing with dark spots of the female universe and history, there is a glimpse of hope and a desire for change.
‘Disobedient Bodies: Reclaiming Her’ is on view at the Sundaram Tagore Gallery in Singapore’s Gillman Barracks until 8 March 2025, coinciding with International Women’s Day. For more information please click here.
FEATURE STORY COURTESY OF ALESSANDRA DIAS, JANUARY 2025.