Curatorial Programme of Art Borneo 2025

M Faozi Yunanda M.Pd.“

Theme: Non-Utilitarian Ecological Consumption

In the landscape of contemporary art, explorations of ecological issues have gained increasing visibility and significance. The growing urgency of environmental crises ranging from deforestation and water pollution to climate change and other forms of ecological degradation whose impacts are felt directly has prompted artists to reflect on the complex relationship between humans and nature through their artistic practices. As a space of reflection and response to the developments of our time across cultural, technological and social domains, contemporary art serves as an ideal medium for accommodating the proliferation of creativity expressed in this exhibition.

Explorations within contemporary art open new possibilities in the ways art is produced, experienced and interpreted. This provides artists with the freedom to push beyond conventional boundaries by experimenting with diverse media, techniques, concepts and meanings.

The theme “Non-Utilitarian Ecological Consumption” forms a meeting point between ecological consciousness and visual representation, creating a space for dialogue on how art can articulate the dynamics of consumption and its environmental consequences. In this context, consumption is understood not merely as an economic activity but as an action with systemic implications for global ecosystems. Through this lens, art becomes a critical tool for questioning unsustainable patterns of consumption.

Global capitalism has cultivated a culture of mass and compulsive consumerism, often neglecting environmental harm. The artists highlight how excessive consumption contributes to ecological imbalance, waste production and accelerated environmental degradation. Their works interrogate humanity’s reliance on resource exploitation, reframing consumption as a behaviour that can be moderated or even redefined to encourage deeper awareness of the ecological impacts embedded in everyday choices.

These issues act as a magnet, drawing together interconnected subjects as artists translate them into visual form. The realities outlined above are offered openly to participating artists from Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam. Whether these concerns are contextually relevant to their respective national conditions becomes secondary, as the underlying concept of interconnectedness dissolves these borders. The issues instead emerge as shared anxieties expressed freely through artistic creation while upholding a strong essence of critique and message.

Yet contemporary art is not solely a vehicle for critique; it is also a medium for imagining more sustainable futures. Through compelling visual narratives, art has the potential to awaken collective consciousness and inspire behavioural change. Artists working within the framework of “Non-Utilitarian Ecological Consumption” do not merely address environmental crises they also propose alternative perspectives towards more responsible consumption.

In an era where ecological concerns are increasingly urgent, contemporary art holds substantial potential to contribute to meaningful solutions. By integrating principles of sustainability into artistic practice, art becomes a space for reflection, critique and hope offering pathways towards a more harmonious relationship between humans and the natural world.

Catriona Maddocks“

Artworks from Malaysia: Akar

Bringing together artists from Malaysia’s three main regions Sabah, Sarawak, and Peninsular Malaysia Akar highlights issues such as land accessibility, ecological loss, political marginalisation, and Indigenous knowledge. The works on display reveal the deep interconnections between the politics of memory, place, identity, and contemporary collective realities.

Embedded within each piece is a sense of nostalgia yet not a romantic or sentimental one, but a form of critical nostalgia that questions how history is preserved, who preserves it, and what is lost as collective memory erodes and resources are exploited. Through textiles, illustration, print, film, photography, and even earth itself, ancestral knowledge is presented not as a static archive but as a living space continually fought for both a grounding point and a pathway towards resistance.

In these works, cultural heritage becomes a form of protest, interrogating the possibilities that emerge through acts of remembering, reshaping, and reimagining.

Elroy Ramantan“

Living Borders, Breathing Worlds presents six Bruneian artists whose works explore the interwoven themes of ecology, identity, and memory. Through visual art, film, collage, and illustration, the exhibition features Dystopia Through the Screen by Iman Shamsuddin, Heart Break of Borneo by Elroy Ramantan, Creator II by Maziyah Yussof, Roots Unveiled by Halim Ashari, The Sultanate of Tranquility by Bella Kasnon, and The Botanical Map of Borneo by Susannah Anak Rogo Sitai Liew.

Curated by Elroy Ramantan, the exhibition approaches environmental issues not merely as ecological concerns but as a living dialogue encompassing culture, politics, and the struggle to endure. The selected artists are recognised for their courage in confronting themes such as forced displacement, cultural erasure, and overdevelopment, while honouring the rich ecological and Indigenous heritage of Brunei.

Their works reflect the environment as both a site of belonging and a form of resistance: from digital-world distortions to Bornean deforestation; from spiritual symbolism and cultural transition to the quiet disappearance of species and knowledge. Together, they urge us to perceive the natural world not as a distant wilderness but as an inseparable part of human identity, memory, and survival.