Badang (2005)

"When embarking on this project, Ahmad Abu Bakar and Khairuddin Hori sought a collaborative methodology that would move away from a mere presentation of a collection of their individual works. The result is this singular installation as the culmination of dialogues and conversations between two artists from different generations who share a friendship and thus, certain common grounds and points of references, such as being Malay.

The exhibition project quickly became an excuse to explore the furthest realms where their minds could meet and its title refers to this common ground, alluding to the Malay legend of Badang, a royal slave who attained super-human strength after eating the vomit of a beast. Here, Badang is playfully positioned as an allegory of being an artist.

This then is an exhibition where the objects are, at best, testaments, but otherwise, indexes to a communication process as artistic exchange.

A video interview of the two artists is also presented within the exhibition space and provides glimpses of the artistic negotiations and rationale behind mounting the exhibition."