Event The Courtauld, London
In her acclaimed three-channel video installation Night Sutra, premiered at the Busan Biennale 2024, artist Han Mengyun intertwines tales of genocide, exile, healing, and rebellion with reflections on transcultural and intergenerational womanhood, motherhood, postpartum depression, and the often-overlooked misogyny within Buddhist traditions through recorded episodes of her Lacanian psychoanalytic sessions. Emulating the format of Buddhist sutras, the film integrates woodblock-printed motifs while stitching and binding a variety of narrative forms. The moving image shifts between Buddhist verses, oral testimonies from Khmer Rouge survivors, Cambodian classical dance, and the artist’s performances, where the distinct voices of the female subjects are centralised.
The event will include a special screening of Night Sutra, followed by Han’s conversation with Professor Ashley Thompson, Hiram W. Woodward Chair in Southeast Asian Art at SOAS. The discussion will explore shared themes in their research and practice, including gender and sexuality in transcultural Buddhism, psychoanalysis as a device to deconstruct the feminine psyche, and the interplay of trauma and memory — from the Cambodian genocide to the Cultural Revolution in China.
Organised by Dr Sophie Guo, associate lecturer at The Courtauld, as part of the Trans-Asias Research Cluster.
Links:
Facebook
Instagram
WeChat 微信