NAZERUL
KHAIRY BEN-DZULKEFLIFOOTINGS
EXHIBITION
FOOTINGS
Studio Nyisztor, Perth. October 2023
Artists:
Vicki Ames, Linda Banazis, Monique Bosshard Curby, Marian Giles, Dallas Perry, Perdita Phillips, Gail Russell
Catalogue Essay:
Nazerul Ben-Dzulkefli
Often, our creative processes are rituals and dances that placate the secular and divine sentinels who guard the spaces where we choose to exist. These spaces can be altogether abstract, untamed or otherwise an extension of the unseen. How does one offer proper salutations to personifications of situations and geographical locations that one has just arrived in?
In the process of finding an auspicious spot to build a home, the archaic Malay folk science of geomancy, Tajul Muluk, postulates that a life-giving, tart tasting, fragrant scented soil on the desired site ensures the prosperity of the dwellers, whereas a bitter note foretells a tragic fate. This is the first step to this arduously elaborate place-making ritual. After a gross examination of the earth, a hole is dug in the centre of the site and the names of those who came before are uttered in reverence while an offering of goat entrails, its head and its once life-giving blood is then made in exchange for good omens. The first pillar of the house is erected in the cavity when signs of promising foretelling emerge; usually in the form of dreams – a salutation received, a welcome signalled.
Although this elaborate practise of house and land hunting has fallen out of fashion, the wisdom resonates deep into contemporary times. Can we engage with the unseen, the past and the unwilling while trying to find our bearings in an oft-confusing landscape devoid of natural landmarks, sacred sites and the voices of deities, ancestors and local spirits that are gradually being drowned out by the cacophony of traffic noise and industry? What can we learn from keenly observing our immediate surroundings for signs, and studying the multilayered stories that lie beneath the detritus of modern life to distil clarity and guidance from muddied ore?
In finding our bearings in a new world, we often take careful steps, gingerly walking on proverbial fragments of flagstones, flat and hopefully sturdy. We tread lightly albeit firmly rooted in between steps. Our legs become stilts of wooden thatched roofed houses – steady yet flexible enough to withstand strong flood currents that come crashing during the annual monsoon.
We (ought to) revel in each learning experience along our individual journeys, weaving the memories into a tapestry – each thread becoming a part of the larger map for ourselves and those who might come after us seeking directions whilst clinging on fraying wefts. Our footings are often impermanent, and they constantly unravel when we land in new circumstances and unknown places.
Despite the inevitable ongoing process of making and undoing, settling and dismantling, our purpose as creators is to actively conjure meaning out of the unknown variables we have been allotted. We find fleeting moments of revelations when our stories mingle with existing tales and realities.
As we take heed from the signs and landmarks left behind by those who came before us, so too shall we leave ours for them who will succeed us to examine. Unbeknownst to us, our unknown names will be uttered then, when they arrive asking for glad tidings, with offerings befitting their time and place.
