Rozana Lee
Indonesia / Singapore / Aotearoa New Zealand, b.1970
Adzan
- 2018
- Single-channel video, sound, looped, duration 5 min 21 sec, projected onto 2004 tsunami-soiled fabric, stainless steel posts, sandbags
- Purchased 2020
- 2020/046.a-d
Tags: boats, light art, prayers, sound (acoustics), water (inorganic material)
Identity, migration and belonging are explored in this work, which records the Adzan (Islamic call to prayer) at a beach near the artist’s hometown of Aceh, Indonesia. The video is projected onto fabric soiled by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, salvaged by Lee’s late father. This screen recalls sunshades commonly used in Aceh, and also Wayang, an Indonesian puppet theatre in which stories are told with shadows. Indonesia is home to over 300 ethnic groups. Growing up there as a fourth-generation Chinese migrant, Lee experienced racial and religious tensions. When she came to Aotearoa New Zealand, she again felt like an outsider. It led her to ask what it might take to truly claim a place as home.