The Tongue Has No Bones : A Solo Exhibition by Tan Zi Hao
A+ is excited to announce Tan Zi Hao's second solo exhibition "The Tongue Has No Bones", opening this Saturday at A+ Works of Art!
Every now and then, the perennial subject of language rouses Malaysia from slumber. Disputes over Malay proficiency, the constitutionality of vernacular schools, and the public visibility of multilingual signs, have all unleashed bouts of tongue-lashing.
In "The Tongue Has No Bones," Tan Zi Hao puts our common wisdom about language under scrutiny. Does a language truly unite its speakers? Does speaking distinct tongues pit us at odds with each other?
The idiomatic phrase in Malay, "lidah tak bertulang," or the tongue has no bones, readily suggests an untamable organ. A cautionary proverb, it reminds one to be wary of what the mouth lets slip. The tongue has no bones, and yet, it wreaks havoc. It usurps power. As counterintuitive as it may seem, Tan is precisely interested in the erratic nature of language in transgressing reified cultural and linguistic barriers.
