EXHIBITIONS /

Ekin Kee Charles: Meet Us at the Ridge

15–30 March 2025 (Level 3)

 

Join us for the screening of the films Meet Us at the Ridge and Peaceland on 15 March 2025 at 3pm. The screening will be followed by a conversation with the filmmaker Ekin Kee Charles, moderated by filmmaker and journalist Rahmah Pauzi.

The event will mark the opening of our new film installation titled Meet Us at the Ridge by Ekin Kee Charles, which will be on view on level 3 of the gallery from 15–30 March 2025.

Presented in collaboration with Han Nefkens Foundation.

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Meet Us at the Ridge : 6.0753° N, 116.5588° E
2024 | 8 Mins | Single-Channel Video | Stereo

The film displays an internal conversation of uncertainty, doubt and resistance based on the perspective of faith and tradition with one’s self.

“A year ago, my father’s side of the family organised a Mongukas ceremony. This is an event where we pay respect to relatives who have passed. We were supposed to sacrifice a bull where the meat is feasted on by the living family members and the head of the bull is sent to the grave as an offering to our dead relatives. I learnt from my parents that we weren’t going to carry out the ritual, and I was angry with myself that I couldn’t counter what my parents said, and that I had no knowledge of my own traditions to do it myself. As much as I am regretful that I am slowly drifting away from my culture, I am more sorrowful that I am slowly forgetting the spirit of my ancestors.’’

Peaceland
2024 | 12 Mins | Single-Channel Video | Stereo

Rena, Mina and Joni, fashionable besties in their 60’s, hitchhike on an illegal truck from their distant village to make the long journey to town. They are going to purchase monthly household goods and to convince Rena’s daughter to come home.

“I grew up in Kota Marudu, a district that is labelled as one of the poorest places in Malaysia. I finally left the village when I was 19 years old. When I was younger, my favourite activity with my cousins would be to imagine what our lives would be like if we were rich. We would watch our favourite YouTubers, dreaming of a fabulous and fashionable life, like what was portrayed online. Not being able to afford things was degrading to me and it made me feel small; so I made a goal that when I got older, I would reinvent myself, and move to a big city. I now work and live in Kuala Lumpur, achieving a dream that I had, to run away from the rural village where I was from. But whenever I scroll through Facebook, I see my mother and her friends living their best and authentic selves in a life that I used to hate. They are living a life dictated on their terms. They are so sure of themselves and they do not need validation from anyone. This film is a celebration of these women, a realization that I love them, and I want to be just like them when I am older.’’

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About the Artist

Ekin Kee Charles is an indigenous filmmaker from Sabah, Malaysia. She is a descendant of the Kimaragang tribe, a sub-tribe from the Kadazandusun Dayak umbrella. Ekin grew up in a closed community that consisted of family members who migrated from the inland mountain area to Kota Marudu, Sabah. Her works are often set around the community and lifestyle of the people in her hometown, oftentimes including them as cast and crew in her projects. Ekin has shared her passion for film through workshops conducted for indigenous communities not only in Sabah, but in other parts of Malaysia as well.

Ekin Kee Charles was the recipent of the Han Nefkens Foundation-Loop Barcelona Video Art Production Award 2022.