15 September 2016
Inaugurated in 1999, the Winston Oh Award offers recipients from the McNally School of Fine Arts the opportunity to develop their artistic practice and professional networks through overseas travel. Now in its 17th year, the award has enabled numerous students to immerse themselves physically and culturally in a country of their choice for a sustained period – an experience many find stimulating and transformative.
We speak with three of the 2016 award winners and they share their experiences with us below:
Anwar Ahmad, Diploma in Fine Arts
Anwar travelled to Myanmar in search of the Myanmarese national sport, Chinlone – an intricate sport similar to Sepak Takraw. Anwar was intrigued by the fact that Chinlone players do not seek to win or lose but simply to display their skill in a spirit of congeniality.
What was one highlight or memorable experience you had on your travels?
The highlight was having witnessed the Chinlone Festival at the Mahamuni pagoda in Mandalay. Watching the teams play live and display their mastery and discipline was something special and unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
How have your travels inspired your work?
I have been reading this book called No Contest by Alfie Kohn. The book is a collection of scientific findings and reflections on whether and how competition can benefit us. It looks into how our human nature has evolved to find what could be the cause and source of competition. The work I will be presenting is sort of a reflection of Alfie Kohn’s book, as I believe Chinlone can be a vehicle not only for changing the way we play sport but can also improve our human behavior.
Moses Tan, BA(Hons) Fine Arts
Moses travelled to China to trace how the distinct cultural contexts of China and Singapore shape the understanding and expression of shame in queer life.
What does receiving this award mean to you?
Winning the award was a great booster for me and gave me the chance to continue my practice for a short while after graduating without having to worry about concrete career plans.
What was one highlight or memorable experience you had on your travels?
In terms of research, one highlight was to meet Joelle from the Beijing LGBT centre. The centre itself–a safe haven for queer people in Beijing–provided me with a lot of information to guide me along my research.
How have your travels inspired your work?
Prior to my travels, my own area of interest of research was queer melancholia, poetic resistance and queer ecology. This, however, changed when I got to Beijing and met Joelle from the LGBT centre. Meeting a few individuals through Joelle, site visits and gaining access to texts (thesis, research papers) which were only available in China added to my understanding of my own research focus and helped me streamline my research.
Tinu Verghis, MA Fine Arts
Tinu spent her time in Iran training with traceuse, women parkour practitioners.
Tell us about your travel destination and why you chose it.
Parkour or “the art of displacement” is a challenging urban sport which started in the 1980s and 1990s in the suburbs of Paris. I had known that there are more than 300 women in Iran who train Parkour through the occidental database and I wanted to have my own experience of it. I wanted to learn how women in Iran mediate their body in the public space and join them in subverting the male gaze by attempting the art of displacement together.
What was one highlight or memorable experience you had on your travels?
I was training Parkour in public spaces and I took off my head scarf, in response to the Iranian girls who were training without it. Islamic law in Iran states that women must cover their hair in public. Through this act, I experienced the full meaning of Foucault’s comment that “resistance is the necessary counterpart to power”.
How have your travels inspired your work?
The motto of Parkour is “Never move backwards”. Parkour is about moving your body through space, regardless of the architecture; a transcending body. This trip reinforced the relevance of my research about the role that sport plays in the emancipation of women, offering us an avenue for self-definition and control of our own bodies.
What does receiving this award mean to you and what has been the best part of the LASALLE experience for you?
This award has made it possible for me to do my research and inspires me to keep developing meaningful artworks that deconstructs hegemonic narratives. LASALLE has expanded my mind, challenged me, helped me refine my skills and inspired me to take my art to the next level.
