Location: Ugly Duck
October 31, 2023 - November 5, 2023
Altar-native Exhibition: A Journey into East and Southeast Asian Ancestral Heritage in newly opened Ugly Duck Courage Yard
31st October – 5th November, The Greenhouse, Courage Yard, Shad Thames, London SE1 2NJ
Courage Yard with exhibition Altar-native featuring work by nine East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) artists. From October 31st to November 5th, Altar-native will offer a captivating exploration of ancestral heritage and veneration, weaving together enigmatic histories and personal journeys through diverse artistic expression.
Altar-native immerses visitors in the multiplicities within ESEA culture and diaspora. The artists come together to magnify and challenge ideas of death and mourning, confronting societal taboos. By expanding the notion of “ghosts”, exploring ritual and altar practices, the exhibition serves as a conduit for the reexamination of ancestral, and therefore personal, identities. The exhibition also explores themes of loss and immortality, transcending human-spirit boundaries and conventional understandings of grief.
Launching on Halloween, guests attending the opening night are encouraged to draw on ghosts and ancestral heritage as inspiration for their costumes/outfits.