Ain

A self-initiated exhibition/store humbly brought by 5 Southeast Asian students: Marcos Kueh
(Graphic Design), Izabelle Lacheta (IMD), Vy Dang (Autonoom), Kiara Mohamad (Painting) and
myself.
Curated by: Marcos Kueh (Graphic Design)

Happy Oriental Trading Co. is a collaborative exploration of this specific idea of imported culture
in the South East Asian context. Encased within the facade of the gallery of academic institution, the little store is a recreated nostalgia of our simple past.

The pavilion of poverty represents both our pride and shame. The store name 安贫 (an pin) roughly means to be contented in poverty and devoted to things spiritual or to repose in poverty and delight in wisdom. For many of us however, poverty was not really of a choice.

Our humble store shares our internalised trauma tied to our identities, our struggles against our fluctuating self-esteem and the integrity of third world labour. Through our store, we also explore the idea of imported culture in the South East Asian context.

Another aim for this store is to open up the narratives and share the stories of the international
community in KABK, as we believed we need more of it. This is the start of this notion. We hope
to be able to continue this idea and hopefully, in the future, we will be able to build our store
again.

Special thanks to Marcos Kueh (Graphic Design) for pushing us to do this and curating. Without
him, we would not have been able to make this happen.
Many thanks to those who helped us build and construct our lovely store.
Jeremi Biziuk, Yannis Androulakis, Natsumi Sakai, Simbu and Nick.
Without their help, it wouldn't have happen.
And lastly, many thanks to everyone that took the time to visit and converse with us, allowing us
to share our stories as well as your stories. It means a lot for us and hopefully, we will see each
other again and create even more dialogue.

Self-initiated exhibition, 2020
Marcos Kueh, Vy Đặng, Kiara Mohamad, Isabelle Nair-Lacheta & Nurul Ain Binti Nor Halim.
Cyanotype cloths, plastic cartons of dirty water, videoworks, modified package of products, textiles, prints, collectable toys, printed shirts, dried fish skins, altar, incense, etc.
Displayed in a gallery space in the institution of the Royal Academy of Arts Den Haag.
Photographs taken by Klára Fantová and Nurul Ain Binti Nor Halim.