Ken ✶ Syakira
UNIT 1
✶ info
syakiraken@gmail.com
Transmission: A Transatlantic Project Exploring Innovative Modes of Exhibition
10.5 cm x 14.8 cm
During this residency, our group defined ‘Transmission’ as ‘distance’. Taking inspiration from the vast Atlantic Ocean separating Canada and the UK. Our discussions reached to the question of: “Does the huge body of water act as a divider or a connector between the two?”. I decided to approach this theme by bridging linguistic distance.
Despite English being our primary means of communication during this residency, I noticed that we all come from diverse cultural backgrounds. None of us are native of Toronto nor London and many of us speak a second language or have a different mother tongue. My artwork Here and There (2025) invites visitors to bridge perceived linguistic divides by describing their daily lives in a language other than English via postcard prompts, prompting reflection on our shared humanity despite geographical and cultural distances.
Our group initially planned to create a large fabric tapestry that collectively represents all of our different ways of approaching the theme ‘distance’. Right from the beginning, I wanted to work with postal elements, especially stamps, as I often send and receive letters. I frequently send letters to my friends overseas and receive letters from my parents in Indonesia. To integrate these into the tapestry, I did trials of digitizing British stamps and airmail stickers for digital embroidery.
Later in the program, we were briefed on the two exhibition spaces for the residency:
As the group grew closer and started working further with the exhibition spaces in mind, I start exploring the idea of linguistic distance. This concept feels particularly relevant considering our diverse cultural backgrounds and the multicultural nature of both Toronto and London as metropolitan cities. For the Toronto exhibition, I decided to create a participatory artwork where I make postcards with prompts about daily life, inviting visitors to respond in a language other than English. In return, for the London show, I will try to decipher the postcards from Toronto relying solely on my own understanding and knowledge and create drawings based on my interpretation.
I made four different postcards with four different descriptive prompts:
- How was breakfast? What did you have?
- How was your commute? Saw Anything interesting?
- What are your plans this weekend? Where are you going?
- How was your commute? Saw anything interesting?
To provide visitors with a clearer visual understanding of the prompts, I incorporated drawings from my daily life that related to the themes.
I wasn’t able to attend the show in person, so I gave instructions on how to interact with my artwork. For the Toronto show, I had my postcards spread on the table, where people got to pick and choose which one to write on. To my surprise, there were a number of children participating, mostly writing on the postcards in English.
The participatory postcards received positive feedback. Children actively engaged with it and really took the time to write about their day. Anda (our residency lead from OCAD U) noted that adults expressed their happiness being able to write in their mother tongue rather than English.
I initially planned to ask my group to send the postcards from Toronto to London via airmail to emphasize distance and transmission. However, the exhibitions were 2 weeks apart, thus the idea was logistically impossible as airmail has an unpredictable arrival time. Additionally, I would have to consider the time needed to read and respond to the postcards in a language I don’t speak. On the account of my groupmate Rickyah attendance in Toronto, I asked her to purchase the Canadian postage stamps and airmail stickers for me to affix to the postcards.
Deciphering what the Toronto postcard said was a unique challenge on its own. For Latin-based languages, I tried to find similar words in English with similar associations. My limited knowledge of written Japanese allowed me to identify similar characters for the postcards in Chinese. However, I had to ask for help to identify and comprehend other non-Latin based responses (Hebrew and Cyrillic) because of my lack of exposure towards the language at all. It was very interesting to learn about them.
In contrast to my typically polished drawings, my London postcards were more spontaneous, akin to the quality of doodles when sending mail. I also responded by writing small responses on the postcards I drew, primarily in English with some Indonesian combined.
Myra (friend who came to the PV):
Myra said that my decision to draw spontaneous sketches and drawings rather than refined ones shows an ‘equal’ relationship between myself and the participants who wrote on my postcards in Toronto. This visual approach avoids establishing a hierarchical dynamic where I put myself as superior, like a patron to an artist.
Rickyah (group member from the residency):
During the walk around and critique with Anna Bunting-Branch, Rickyah noted that the drawings I created as a response and interpretation towards the Toronto postcards surpasses verbal language. The drawings I responded with provided context to the written postcards. As a form of communication, drawing transcends verbal language and functions as a universal language that anyone from different cultures and identities ought to be able to speak and understand.
Myra said that my decision to draw spontaneous sketches and drawings rather than refined ones shows an ‘equal’ relationship between myself and the participants who wrote on my postcards in Toronto. This visual approach avoids establishing a hierarchical dynamic where I put myself as superior, like a patron to an artist.
Rickyah (group member from the residency):
During the walk around and critique with Anna Bunting-Branch, Rickyah noted that the drawings I created as a response and interpretation towards the Toronto postcards surpasses verbal language. The drawings I responded with provided context to the written postcards. As a form of communication, drawing transcends verbal language and functions as a universal language that anyone from different cultures and identities ought to be able to speak and understand.
Despite the geographical and cultural differences we have with people in Toronto, ultimately, this artwork highlighted human connection. Though we may not share a common language, our daily routines, breakfast, and weekend activities demonstrate a shared human experience.
The experience and feedback I got through the residency program indirectly informed my current studio practice. Exploring distance encompasses the space between two cities while also exploring the intervening elements. Like my approach in linguistic distance, drawing served to bridge the information gap. Distance doesn’t necessarily segregate and divide, rather a medium exists inbetween that can harmoniously integrate them.