Shooshie Sulaiman

Born in Malaysia in 1973, Shooshie Sulaiman is one of the most important contemporary artists of Southeast Asia. Of Malay and Chinese origin, with the history of Southeast Asia, the culture of her homeland (Malaysia), as well as her personal memories and her own identity, serve as significant themes within her work. An almost mystical air permeates Sulaiman’s oeuvre, with works produced through diverse approaches such as drawings, collages, installations, and performances that at times appropriate natural elements from trees, soil, to water that are native to the land. Through them, the works inform viewers of the complex and inextricably connected relationship between human beings, nature, and art. In 2006, Shooshie organized her first solo exhibition where her living space, situated behind National Gallery and National Theatre, Kuala Lumpur, was opened to the general public for period of two weeks. She titled the exhibition ‘Rumah’/ ‘House’ following the concept of ‘open house’. Intentionally, the exhibition was a participatory work where she invited the Board Members of National Art Gallery to her ‘house’, alongside the general public. Shooshie’s second solo was organised by Tomio Koyama Gallery Singapore in 2013. Title of the exhibition was ‘Sulaiman was Malay’, where she acknowledged the journey of ‘malayness’ as a regional identity, mystical reality and inverted overlapping trail. The show was a tribute to the death of her father, Sulaiman. To complete her parents’ ‘sequence’, during her Kadist Foundation Residency in Paris (2016), she titled “Malay Mawar” as her third solo exhibition. The show was a tribute to her late mother, where Shooshie brought cuttings of Mawar (rose) from her mother’s grave (in Malaysia) and grafted them with Parisian rose species called “le Norte”. A tribute to her quest on Tenggara/Nusantara, a fourth solo exhibition was held at Tomio Koyama Gallery Tokyo (2021) title ‘Lore of Equator’. In this exhibition, Shooshie announced her and MAIX’s (Malaysian Artists’ Intention Experiment, founded by shooshie in 2014)) role as the public creative position to contribute through long-term community projects. This is to celebrate the Southeast Asia community-based cultures that transcend the aspects of spiritual identity and social commitment. Shooshie’s most recent solo exhibition (2023) was held at Onomichi City Museum, Hiroshima. This solo exhibition created an expanded position between landscape and public creative. In her 10 years residency program with AIR Onomichi, Shooshie was given the opportunity to focus on locals’ navigation and perspective through contemporary art. Shooshie’s artworks have been presented in many important international art events and exhibitions; Documenta 12 (2007), Asia-Pacific Triennial (2009), Singapore Biennale (2011 and 2022), Gwangju Biennale (2014), Yokohama Triennale (2017), Diriyah Biennale (2024) and Busan Biennale (2024). Following the Art Unlimited section at Art Basel in 2014, Shooshie presented a large- scale installation at the Encounter section at Art Basel Honk Kong which curated by Alexie Glass-Kantor in 2015. “Shooshie Sulaiman Drawings” at 8/ ART GALLERY/ Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo (2018) featured her Yokohama Triennale series of drawings. And exhibition ‘Fake M’ (2023), was held at Tomio Koyama Gallery Roppongi in conjunction with her ‘NewLandskap’ exhibition at the Onomichi City Museum. Both are significantly important to her in representing the 10 years of her travel back and forth between Malaysia and Japan. Shooshie artworks are in the collection of Kadist Foundation, Singapore Art Museum and the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. Currently, Shooshie is pursuing a two- year Fellowship awarded by Singapore Art Museum. This marks as a crucial journey in her career, as someone who endures and respects the search for alternative pedagogical module and knowledge in contemporary art.