(De)constructing the Narrative
As someone who has been working and researching on the idea of narratives, I have always been interested in how narratives are shaped in different spaces and how it affects how we understand social issues. I’m also interested in bringing works and research from academia together with art, as a way to reach out to the masses. I’m very excited to be part of this meaningful programme and very thankful to be given the opportunity to be accepted into it and also grateful to be able to work with such amazing mentors.
We started out by having an evening of getting to know everyone over pizza! Such an opportunity gives us to not only get to know each other, but also to get to know what we are all planning to do. Everyone’s so excited to be on board and I’m also looking forward to not only see their final outcomes but to build friendships from this!
We got right into work after a day of getting to know each other. Just last Tuesday, we had a chance to interact with filmmaker Yeo Siew Hua and visual artist Tay Wei Leng. It was an important session, especially for someone like me who deals with lens-based work that deals with narratives of the marginalised. Having watched Yeo’s film titled A Land Imagined, which impressed me greatly, there were many questions I had running through my mind – especially regarding the issues of the idea of showcasing the plight of the marginalised, power structures when it comes to storytelling and even this idea of violence behind the camera. I had similar questions for Tay, who also works also revolves around images and interviews. All of us got into an engaging discussion about what it means to be sharing the stories of the marginalised and minorities, and how do we go about it in a tactful manner and even pondered on what sharing the stories mean in the first place.
The sharing session has allowed me to have more self-awareness of my ideas for the programme, which is to unpack this idea of social mobility through the narratives that we have been internalising and been exposed to.
I intend to do a series of projects, all linked to each other under the umbrella topic of ‘constructing the model minority’ and also politics of space and politics of rehearsal. What does it mean to be a model minority? How do you construct it? And from whose lens is it coming from? Can we ever be a model minority, or are we constantly just “striving” to be one but we are stuck in the idea of it.
I intend to conduct workshops where participants can come together and we deconstruct this idea of social mobility through various academic and art works. I intend for all of us to relook at the idea of labour and how this capitalistic world has influenced us to look at people through labour. Post workshops, I also intend to look at historical narratives, which has shaped how we look at minority bodies. Last but not least, I intend to use film and art to showcase the breakdown that I have researched and experimented on through a performance piece and exhibition.
But right now, it’s time to dedicate myself to research of course!
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Mysara Aljaru
Mysara Aljaru is a freelance journalist and producer currently pursuing her Masters in Malay Studies at the National University of Singapore. She was previously a TV producer with a local mainstream media. A lens-based practitioner, she is currently researching on mainstream media discourse on Malay development. Her works revolve around politics of space, class, race and gender. Her writings have also been published on Beyond The Hijab, Budi Kritik (2018), Growing Up Perempuan (2018) and Karyawan. She is also a participating artist for the upcoming 2019 edition of Objectif’s annual Women in Film programme.