Yee I-Lann
MANSAU-ANSAU
Kunstmuseum Thun
23 August - 30 November 2025
Photograph by Wee Seng
TIKAR MEJA PLASTIK’ (2023) Detail
Woven by Aisyah Binti Ebrahim, Alisyah Binti Ebrahim,
Ardih Binti Belasani, Dayang Binti Tularan, Darwisa
Binti Omar, Dela Binti Aniratih, Endik Binti Arpid, Erna,
Fazlan Bin Tularan, Kinnuhong Gundasali, Kouh, Luisa
Binti Ebrahim, Makcik Lukkop Belatan, Malaya Binti Anggah,
Ninna Binti Mursid, Noraidah Jabarah (Kak Budi),
Roziah Binti Jalalid, Sabiyana Binti Belasani, Sanah Belasani,
Makcik Siti Aturdaya, Tasya binti Tularan and
Venice Foo Chau Xhien
Pandaus fabric, chemical dye, collected plastic waste
Variable format
Artist’s Collection
Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum
Sulu Stories: The Ch’i-lin of Calauit, 2005
Archival pigment inkjet on Epson Premium Photo Luster
60.9 x 60.9 cm
Collection of Singapore Art Museum
Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum
MANSAU-ANSAU at the Kunstmuseum Thun is the first major exhibition in Europe devoted to the work of YEE I-LANN. The multidisciplinary Malaysian artist explores traditional arts and crafts from a contemporary vantage point, delving into the narratives of her homeland and addressing the influences of colonialism and the persistence of Indigenous heritage and communities today.
Walking on and on, without a clear destination – this is an approximate translation of MANSAU-ANSAU from the language of the Indigenous Kadazan and Dusun tribes in Yee I-Lann’s homeland of Sabah, Malaysia. The notion of this venturing into the unknown can be frightening, as there is always the risk of getting lost. But it offers an equal chance of discovering something new. The travelling exhibition, shown at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) from 24 December to 25 March and on view at the Kunstmuseum Thun starting 23 August, sheds light on issues involving art and colonialism from a fresh point of view.
The centrepiece of MANSAU-ANSAU is a mat woven from bamboo that forms the basis for people to sit down and commune together. The mat symbolises a space for intimacy and, in the artist’s view, offers a platform for local, democratic, feminist and social equality. “The mat is a place for storytelling and a way to discover new knowledge,” says Yee I-Lann.
In a broader context, Yee I-Lann (b. 1971, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo) examines in her work the complex geopolitical history of Southeast Asia. Working closely with a collective of women weavers from her homeland gives the artist a way to expose oppression using art and craft. In addition to textiles, the exhibition also features photographs, video works and sculptures dealing with themes such as collective reorganisation, realignment and imagination as strategies for the personal and collective future.
Yee I-Lann has ties to Switzerland: her great-granduncle was a mountaineer in Zermatt at the turn of the last century and was buried in the cemetery there after a fatal fall. The fact that she is presenting her first major European exhibition in Thun, in an environment that displays “similar forms and a similar strength” to her homeland, is the result of a chance discovery. Helen Hirsch, Director of the Kunstmuseum Thun and curator of the exhibition, became aware of the Malaysian artist at Art Unlimited in Basel in 2022. “I was captivated by her independent, multidisciplinary and multi-layered form of expression and her respectful attitude towards the local communities she works with,” says Helen Hirsch. Yee I-Lann always makes sure to include the names of the weavers on the labels for her works, something that distinguishes her from many other artists who have their textile works woven anonymously, for example in Morocco or South America. “She collaborates with the weavers on an equal basis.”
A map of Mansau-Ansau, 2024 (Detail)
Woven by Lili Naming and Shahrizan Bin Juin
Split bamboo pus (Schizostachyum pilosum S.Dransf.) weave,
Multifilla Matt Sealant, 91 x 183 cm
Artist’s Collection
Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum
Installation view of Yee I-Lann’s Picturing Power (2013)
Giclée print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag, Ultra Smooth Fine Art
Variable format
Collection of Singapore Art Museum
Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum
The exhibition includes works from the Singapore Art Museum’s collection, including early photo collage series (Sulu Stories [2005], Picturing Power [2013]) as well as a range of woven works, from batik on silk (Orang Besar series [2010]) to split bamboo (Tepo Putih [2019], Tika-a-gagah [2018-19]). Yee I-Lann’s commitment to deconstructing relationships and her incorporation of diverse symbols and aesthetics is evident in works that transcend time and media. All the while, however, her oeuvre is distinctly rooted in material and communal realities, especially those of Indigenous peoples.
Curator: Helen Hirsch, in collaboration with the Singapore Art Museum (SAM)
KUNSTMUSEUM THUN
Thunerhof, Hofstettenstrasse 14, 3602 Thun
