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Shooting an Elephant and The Leader
Shooting an Elephant and The Leader
2018
Video full HD H264 color stereo
5-channel video 1-’00” or 4’56” each
30channel video: 9’45” each
Courtesy of the artist and ShanghART Gallery,
Shanghai/Beijing/Singapore
Arin Rungjang traces back both personal narrative and social history crossing different time periods, cultures and languages. In this latest video installation, he sheds light on the memories of two people who lived in Myanmar at distinct times. One, Hassan Belan, of Bengali descent with no citizenship, was born in Myanmar and traded to human traffickers in Thailand. In this work he performs Surah Ya-Sin from the Noble Quran. The second is British novelist George Orwell (1903 – 1950) who expressed resistance to colonialism in his famous essay “Shooting an Elephant.” With the inclusion of a Bangladeshi traditional song and a monologue text, the artist’s work unveils layers of hidden realties form personal memories.