Within different outlets, one is able to find an assortment of narratives that allude to different ways of self-identification; this includes contemporary visual art and government-run campaigns both promoting contrasting agendas. A primary component to these practices is the use of nostalgia to create a sense of rootedness and belonging to the country. Taking art and state-led campaigns as subjects of inquiry, Sim will argue for nostalgia existing not merely as a reminiscing of “simpler days”, but as a tool with the potential to alter cultural sentimentalities and influence nation-making. Moderated by Dan Koh.
About the Speaker
Jarrod Sim is a researcher, artist and curator currently based in Singapore. He has an MA in Fine Art from the Chelsea College of Art and Design and a MA in Material and Visual Culture from the department of Anthropology at the University College London. His academic research centres around the theme of nostalgia and the development of identity and history-making vis-à-vis the visual and material cultures of Maritime Southeast Asia, with an emphasis on Singapore. Due to the rapid development of Singapore, Sim’s research will look at how nostalgia can be instrumental to the acclimatising of sentiments towards the increasing loss of heritage sites and the dearth of regional narratives that had disappeared in a relatively short spade of time.
About the Moderator
A Singapore Creative Writing Residency 2013 writer-in-residence, Dan writes and edits creative non-fiction about Singapore’s history, heritage and culture. The author of ‘Gila Bola!: Surviving Singapore Soccer’ (2012), Dan’s essays and articles have also been published in Time Out Singapore, BiblioAsia, Infopedia, NYLON Singapore, The Online Citizen and other publications. As an editor, Dan edited and co-edited over 15 books for local publisher Epigram Books, including the biographies ‘Let the People Have Him––Chiam See Tong: The Early Years’ (2014), and ‘The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye’ (2015).
[Image of Guan Huat Dragon Kiln, 2014]
[Part of Survey: Space, Sharing, Haunting, curated by Post-Museum]
