BETWEEN LANDS: MIGRATION AS TRANSFORMATION

2025
EDITION

In our era of global displacement, this exhibition – co-presented by The Substation and Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) – brings together seven distinctive voices from Southeast Asia to explore the lived collective realities and personal landscapes that emerge through experiences of migration. Through storytelling, audience activation and a call to critical awareness, each artist engages viewers to interrogate facets of the experiences of diaspora or cultural displacement, shaped by geopolitical turmoil and climate disruption.

  • Bui Cong Khanh presents recent work on the assimilation of Vietnamese labourers displaced to France during the colonial era.
  • Justin Loke creates produces new work about notions of human physiognomic classification, a pseudo-scientific method of othering, weaving stories around European diasporas in Asia.
  • Jakkai Siributr explores traumatic memory and statelessness through audience-engaging needlework.
  • Jason Lim interrogates East/West ideological differences through transnational performance.
  • The three Myanmar artists Yadanar Win, Nge Lay, and Aung Ko explore the experiences of migrant workers internationally.

They collectively testify that migration is more than an individual plight, but rather a fundamental collective phenomenon that emerges from feelings of alienation and loss while drawing on our innate capacity for adaptation, home building, and connection across differences.

Between Lands: Migration as Transformation gives rise to new hybrid identities from which emerge new artistic languages and shared narratives that are respectful of diversity. Can these artistic practices help us think through prevailing feelings of uprootedness, dissolution of cultural bonds, loss of a shared world? In an era of global mobility and amid unprecedented interconnection, can these artists’ perspectives elicit our more thoughtful and compassionate action?

All seven artists are alumni of the artist-in-residence programme of Fondation la Roche Jacquelin of Southeast Asian Contemporary Art in France, which is The Substation’s residency partner for Sub+ Residencies 2024/2025.

Vernissage Programme

Saturday, 4 October 2025

  • 5:30 pm — Exhibition Preview

  • 6:00 pm — Welcome Remarks

  • 6:15 pm — Opening Performances by Jason Lim (Singapore), Nge Lay (Myanmar), Bui Cong Khanh (Viet Nam)

  • 7:00 pm — Cocktail Reception Opens

  • 7:15 pm — Panel Discussion
    In Transit: Dialogue Session
    Moderated by Mrs Valentina Riccardi, Director, ASEF Culture

Attendance for the vernissage and exhibition are free by donation. Register here to secure your spot. 

Discover the full AECFest programme.

Featured Artists

Aung Ko [Myanmar]

Bùi Công Khánh [Viet Nam]

Jakkai Siributr [Thailand]

Jason Lim [Singapore]

Justin Loke [Singapore]

Nge Lay [Myanmar]

Yadanar Win [Myanmar]

Youth Curators

Goh Cheng Hao [Singapore], Foo Wee San [Singapore], Phyllis Chan [Singapore]

Curatorial Advisor

Iola Lenzi 

The project is part of Gathering Ground 2025 organised by The Substation, and Asia-Europe Cultural Festival 2025 – Closing Curtain organised by the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), with the financial support of the People’s Republic of China and venue partnership with Goethe-Institut Singapore.

FEATURED ARTISTS

Born in 1980, Aung Ko studied Fine Art Painting at the University of Culture, Yangon. He began his career as a painter but later embraced sculpture, installation art and video. Together with his life partner Nge Lay, Aung Ko founded the Thuye’dan Village Art Project in his native village in northern Myanmar. Aung Ko left Myanmar in February 2021. He has obtained refugee status and lives and works in Paris, France. Aung Ko has participated in Biennales, group shows and residencies worldwide.
Born in 1980, Aung Ko studied Fine Art Painting at the University of Culture, Yangon. He began his career as a painter but later embraced sculpture, installation art and video. Together with his life partner Nge Lay, Aung Ko founded the Thuye’dan Village Art Project in his native village in northern Myanmar. Aung Ko left Myanmar in February 2021. He has obtained refugee status and lives and works in Paris, France. Aung Ko has participated in Biennales, group shows and residencies worldwide.
Born in 1972, Da Nang, Viet Nam, Bùi Công Khánh is a multimedia and multidisciplinary artist who works across painting, performance, video, photography, and installation, taking an interest in vernacular materials such as ceramics, textiles, and indigenous Vietnamese woods and their carved ornamentation. Bùi Công Khánh’s pieces explore paradoxes and frictions of culture, identity, history, politics, and society in the Vietnamese context as well as beyond. His practice melds a research approach to social and historical realities, a commitment to form and aesthetics, and the belief that art can play a part in the spread of social justice at home and overseas.
Born in 1972, Da Nang, Viet Nam, Bùi Công Khánh is a multimedia and multidisciplinary artist who works across painting, performance, video, photography, and installation, taking an interest in vernacular materials such as ceramics, textiles, and indigenous Vietnamese woods and their carved ornamentation. Bùi Công Khánh’s pieces explore paradoxes and frictions of culture, identity, history, politics, and society in the Vietnamese context as well as beyond. His practice melds a research approach to social and historical realities, a commitment to form and aesthetics, and the belief that art can play a part in the spread of social justice at home and overseas.
Born in 1969 in Bangkok, Jakkai Siributr works across media, with a special focus on textile and sewing, adopted for their tactile and interactive features. His intricately sewn and embroidered tapestries and installations convey powerful responses to contemporary and historical societal issues in Thailand and beyond, revolving around migration and personal stories of grief and remembrance. Siributr’s immersive practice highlights overlooked and neglected histories of groups that have been largely ignored, in recent years addressing the experiences of ethnic minorities who are displaced refugees.
Born in 1969 in Bangkok, Jakkai Siributr works across media, with a special focus on textile and sewing, adopted for their tactile and interactive features. His intricately sewn and embroidered tapestries and installations convey powerful responses to contemporary and historical societal issues in Thailand and beyond, revolving around migration and personal stories of grief and remembrance. Siributr’s immersive practice highlights overlooked and neglected histories of groups that have been largely ignored, in recent years addressing the experiences of ethnic minorities who are displaced refugees.
Born in 1966 in Singapore, Jason Lim is a ceramist and performance artist. Fascinated with the language of clay, he often uses the medium beyond its traditional applications, favouring a minimalist sensibility and the involvement of the viewer. Lim’s artworks focus on the interaction between body, matter and spirit. Jason Lim studied at Central Saint Martins, London, and acquired his MFA from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Lim has performed in over 20 countries including Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Poland, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.
Born in 1966 in Singapore, Jason Lim is a ceramist and performance artist. Fascinated with the language of clay, he often uses the medium beyond its traditional applications, favouring a minimalist sensibility and the involvement of the viewer. Lim’s artworks focus on the interaction between body, matter and spirit. Jason Lim studied at Central Saint Martins, London, and acquired his MFA from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Lim has performed in over 20 countries including Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Poland, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.
Justin Loke is an interdisciplinary artist who, through language, image and storytelling, examines various kinds of social and historic paradoxes, and dysfunctions. Cultural translation and the diasporic condition, in Singapore, Asia, and globally are predilections, threaded into his installation, painting, and theatre. He is the director of Singapore collective Vertical Submarine. His works have been exhibited internationally at major institutions, museums, and biennales including National Gallery Singapore, Singapore Art Museum, Saatchi Gallery (London), and Arter (Istanbul). Currently, Loke is directing Tran-Slates: Cultural Heritage Craft x Contemporary Design for the National Heritage Board (Singapore).
Justin Loke is an interdisciplinary artist who, through language, image and storytelling, examines various kinds of social and historic paradoxes, and dysfunctions. Cultural translation and the diasporic condition, in Singapore, Asia, and globally are predilections, threaded into his installation, painting, and theatre. He is the director of Singapore collective Vertical Submarine. His works have been exhibited internationally at major institutions, museums, and biennales including National Gallery Singapore, Singapore Art Museum, Saatchi Gallery (London), and Arter (Istanbul). Currently, Loke is directing Tran-Slates: Cultural Heritage Craft x Contemporary Design for the National Heritage Board (Singapore).
Born in 1979, Nge Lay has a Bachelor Degree in economics and in fine arts from Yangon University of Culture. Nge Lay’s work is centred on gender issues and freedom in her country. Nge Lay left Myanmar in February 2021 and, having received refugee status from France, now lives, studies and works in Paris. She has taken part in Biennale’s across the region, including the Singapore Biennale 2013 and the 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT8) QAGOMA, Brisbane (2016); In 2020, Nge Lay was shortlisted for the Sovereign Asian Art Prize 2020. Nge Lay’s work is in the collections of major public institutions.
Born in 1979, Nge Lay has a Bachelor Degree in economics and in fine arts from Yangon University of Culture. Nge Lay’s work is centred on gender issues and freedom in her country. Nge Lay left Myanmar in February 2021 and, having received refugee status from France, now lives, studies and works in Paris. She has taken part in Biennale’s across the region, including the Singapore Biennale 2013 and the 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT8) QAGOMA, Brisbane (2016); In 2020, Nge Lay was shortlisted for the Sovereign Asian Art Prize 2020. Nge Lay’s work is in the collections of major public institutions.
Born in 1987 in Yangon, Myanmar, Yadanar Win is a multidisciplinary artist. Interested in international exchanges from an early age, she earned her bachelor’s degree in English, later joining Aye Ko’s New Zero artistic space, Yangon, in 2009. She is an artist, as well as a cultural project coordinator. Detaching herself from traditional practices, she uses her body as a means of experimentation. Her performances promote peace, and interrogate politics and the condition of women in Myanmar. She has taken part in exhibitions (The Substation, Stealing Public Space, 2020) and performance festivals and events in Myanmar, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, the UK, and France. She is a member of l’Atelier des artistes en exil and lives in Marseille.
Born in 1987 in Yangon, Myanmar, Yadanar Win is a multidisciplinary artist. Interested in international exchanges from an early age, she earned her bachelor’s degree in English, later joining Aye Ko’s New Zero artistic space, Yangon, in 2009. She is an artist, as well as a cultural project coordinator. Detaching herself from traditional practices, she uses her body as a means of experimentation. Her performances promote peace, and interrogate politics and the condition of women in Myanmar. She has taken part in exhibitions (The Substation, Stealing Public Space, 2020) and performance festivals and events in Myanmar, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, the UK, and France. She is a member of l’Atelier des artistes en exil and lives in Marseille.

YOUTH CURATORS

Cheng Hao is a final-year undergraduate pursuing a double major in English Literature and Art History at Nanyang Technological University. With a penchant for experimental film, he is interested in the intersections between moving images, text, art, and writing, particularly with the limitations of language, and looking at what falls through the gaps in translations. Recently, he has spoken at the 2025 SUNY New Paltz Undergraduate Art History Symposium about the works of Indonesian artist S. Sudjojono and authorial intentionalism.
Cheng Hao is a final-year undergraduate pursuing a double major in English Literature and Art History at Nanyang Technological University. With a penchant for experimental film, he is interested in the intersections between moving images, text, art, and writing, particularly with the limitations of language, and looking at what falls through the gaps in translations. Recently, he has spoken at the 2025 SUNY New Paltz Undergraduate Art History Symposium about the works of Indonesian artist S. Sudjojono and authorial intentionalism.
Wee San is a final-year undergraduate reading a double major in English Literature and Art History at Nanyang Technological University. An avid writer, his research interests concern the creative nonfiction genre and the study of animist and spiritual motifs across Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art. His creative works have been featured in Atelier of Healing, an online anthology on trauma and healing. If Wee San’s not rushing essays, he is editing video content for Mediacorp's social channels.
Wee San is a final-year undergraduate reading a double major in English Literature and Art History at Nanyang Technological University. An avid writer, his research interests concern the creative nonfiction genre and the study of animist and spiritual motifs across Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art. His creative works have been featured in Atelier of Healing, an online anthology on trauma and healing. If Wee San’s not rushing essays, he is editing video content for Mediacorp's social channels.
Phyllis Chan is a final-year English Literature and Art History student at Nanyang Technological University. Interested in Southeast Asian contemporary art and film, she believes that both can serve as important spaces for memory and resistance. As a writer, she has contributed essays to NTU Film Society’s in-house publication Exposure, where her work with the publication has also been featured in Asian Film Archive’s Asian Cinema Digest.
Phyllis Chan is a final-year English Literature and Art History student at Nanyang Technological University. Interested in Southeast Asian contemporary art and film, she believes that both can serve as important spaces for memory and resistance. As a writer, she has contributed essays to NTU Film Society’s in-house publication Exposure, where her work with the publication has also been featured in Asian Film Archive’s Asian Cinema Digest.

CURATORIAL ADVISOR

Iola Lenzi is a Singapore historian and curator of Southeast Asian contemporary art which she connects to Asian social and cultural contexts. She holds an LLB and a PhD in Modern Asian art history, and teaches Southeast Asian Contemporary Art History and curatorial methods at NTU, Singapore. She has solo or lead-curated some 40 exhibitions in Asia and Europe, and authored-edited six multilingual field research publications, as well as Museums of Southeast Asia (2004). Her most recent monograph is Power, Politics and the Street: Contemporary Art in Southeast Asia after 1970 (Lund Humphries, 2024).
Iola Lenzi is a Singapore historian and curator of Southeast Asian contemporary art which she connects to Asian social and cultural contexts. She holds an LLB and a PhD in Modern Asian art history, and teaches Southeast Asian Contemporary Art History and curatorial methods at NTU, Singapore. She has solo or lead-curated some 40 exhibitions in Asia and Europe, and authored-edited six multilingual field research publications, as well as Museums of Southeast Asia (2004). Her most recent monograph is Power, Politics and the Street: Contemporary Art in Southeast Asia after 1970 (Lund Humphries, 2024).

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