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Mahen Bala

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Category: Photo series

Posted on November 3, 2019November 3, 2019

City Lights – A photo series

A city is a built environment, a physical manifestation of our dreams, desires, insecurities, achievements and failings. It is inorganic, unnatural in every way, geared towards an ever-expanding capacity to consume, exploit and overwhelm everything to its very limits. It is only acceptable then that we do the same to ourselves. Kuala Lumpur, 31 October …

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Posted on October 23, 2019October 24, 2019

Remembering Razak Mansions

My first encounter with the residential complex had been accidental, stumbling upon it while tracing the Kerayong River from its source to confluence as part of a documentary project on Klang Valley's river network. The second visit was to photograph the area, and by the third visit, all the blocks had been demolished. The residents …

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When durian was in season my dad would bring home gunny sacks filled with durian from the farms he visited. We had so much fruits that sometimes that was all we had for dinner. A buffet of durian and mangosteen. Naturally there was plenty leftover and mum must have learned how to make this dish from my Malay relatives. At home we called it pulut durian, and I ate bowls of it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
A stranger sits down at my table and offers me a glass of water.
Art has the potential to move us in unpredictable ways. Sometimes they make us laugh, at both ourselves and the world. Sometimes they nudge us out of our comfort zones, invoking unfamiliar thoughts and emotions. And sometimes they leave us drained and dead inside. But don’t worry, everything will be ok.

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