Tiyan Baker: Language, Body, and Indigenous Heritage in Video and Installation
Tiyan Baker, an artist of Malaysian Bidayǔh and Anglo-Australian heritage, produces video and installation art that delves into themes of language, Indigenous cosmology, and the decline of minority languages. In her 2023 work 'mouthbreather', she uses a small 360 camera placed in her mouth to present a view through her teeth while articulating distorted Bukar, the language of her mother's Bidayǔh community in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. This piece emphasizes the influence of language on thought and the physicality of speech. Baker also critiques cultural appropriation and capitalist exploitation, evident in her 2019 piece 'Bamboo Paradise', a three-channel video targeting YouTube channels that romanticize 'primitive' Southeast Asian cultures. Her 2020 video 'Tarun' reflects her complex relationship with her mother's homeland. The installation 'Personal Computer: ramin ntaangan' (2022–23) merges a custom PC within a traditional longhouse framework and digital animations, illustrating how the internet fosters connections among diasporic communities. In 2022, she received the National Photography Prize from the Murray Art Museum in Albury. Currently, she resides on Awabakal and Worimi lands in Newcastle, Australia.
Key facts
- Tiyan Baker is a Malaysian Bidayǔh and Anglo-Australian artist.
- Her video 'mouthbreather' (2023) uses a tiny 360 camera in her mouth to explore language and perception.
- The film features Bukar, a native tongue of the Bidayǔh community in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.
- Baker's father is Australian Caucasian; her mother is from the Bidayǔh Indigenous community.
- 'Bamboo Paradise' (2019) critiques YouTube channels that fetishize 'primitive' Southeast Asian lifestyles.
- 'Tarun' (2020) documents Baker's ambivalent feelings toward her cultural heritage.
- 'Personal Computer: ramin ntaangan' (2022–23) combines a custom PC in a traditional Bidayǔh longhouse structure.
- Baker was awarded the National Photography Prize by the Murray Art Museum in Albury in 2022.
- She lives on Awabakal and Worimi lands in Newcastle, Australia.
- Her work includes installation, photography, video, and sculpture.
Entities
Artists
- Tiyan Baker
- Adeline Chia
Institutions
- ArtReview Asia
- Murray Art Museum Albury
Locations
- Sarawak
- Malaysian Borneo
- Newcastle
- Australia
- Awabakal
- Worimi
- Mulubinba
- Siem Reap
- Cambodia
- Albury