Tan Wei Kheng (b.1970, Malaysia) is a Sarawakian painter who has developed an interest in the Orang Ulu communities, such as the Penan, and their way of life. The Penan are the last of Borneo’s nomadic hunter-gatherers, and Tan’s works serve as a reminder of the fragility of their culture and their environment, threatened by the pressures of capitalist and state-centric hegemony.
“Majestic Hunters” explores the theme of death, both as a fact of reality and as a metaphor for the looming demise of the Penan way of life. The Nyakit triptych serves as a memento mori, while the portraits of elderly Penan individuals are posthumous portraits, rendered from memory and photographs after their subjects had passed on.
The exhibition will be held at RKFA Singapore, 47 Malan Rd, #01-26 Gillman Barracks, Singapore 109444, from 10 June to 1 July 2023. Admission is free.
Download the catalogue here
