EXHIBITION ESSAY
Pagar & Padi: An exhibition by Catriona Maddocks and Gindung Mc Feddy Simon
11 – 26 November 2023
Curatorial Statement
Poposuni ot tinan ku kumaa koinsanai susumuni di milo do akanon ponumad do tulun.
Tonsi ku poposuni do parai, tulu ku—piasau, tulang ku—mundok, karam ku—layo, nipon ku
—tawaran om totud ku—guol. Au nondo kawagu owitil ti tulun tokou.
Hominodun
Rice has been cultivated by communities in Borneo for countless generations, and in return rice has cultivated customs, beliefs, traditions and cultures throughout the Island. Annual rice harvests guide the ebbs and flow of rural life, connecting communities with weather patterns, lunar cycles, feast and fast, and the communal coming together to reap what has been sown. In Sabah, imbued with the spirit of Bambarayon, rice has become a staple not just in the diets of the community but also in daily lives and practices, rich origin stories, mythologies and cosmic understanding. Indeed legend states that rice was brought to the people of Sabah through the selfless sacrifice of Hominodun.
“My body will give rise to all sorts of edible plants to feed the people. My flesh will give rise to rice, my head—the coconut, my bones—tapioca, my toes—ginger, my teeth—maize and my knees—yams. Our people will never go hungry again.”
On 31 August 1964, a year after the formation of Malaysia, the Batu Sumpah, an oath stone was revealed in Keningau to commemorate the terms to which Sabah agreed to its role in the nation-building of Malaysia.
Upon this stone a metal plaque beared the words:
The Malaysian Government Guarantees
Freedom of Religion in Sabah
The Government of Sabah Holds Authority over Land in Sabah
Native Customs and Traditions Will Be Respected and Upheld by the Government
Fifty years later it was discovered that the plaque had been tampered with and the words “The Malaysian Government Guarantees” (in Malay, “Kerajaan Malaysia Jamin") had been removed. The Guarantee, the Jamin to the people of Sabah had been erased. But not forgotten.
In October 2022 British artist Catriona Maddocks and Dusun artist Gindung Mc Feddy Simon collaborated with community members of Kampung Kilimu, a rural village at the foothills of Mount Kinabalu. Together they undertook the annual Mongomot, rice planting, using heritage rice grains to spell out the guarantee, JAMIN, into the earth, commemorating the promises of 1964 of the Batu Sumpah. In March 2023 the padi was harvested.
The exhibition title references the famous Malay proverb “Harapkan pagar, pagar makan padi”. Translated as “Trusting the fence, yet the fence eats the paddy”, the proverb implies that sometimes those that we rely on to protect something can end up destroying it.
The work in Pagar & Padi explores how man-made promises wrought in iron may be easily erased but the soil and toil of Sabahan community members guarantees that the land remembers; rice will sustain, the crop will grow, the community will come together and what was sown will be reaped.
Artists: Catriona Maddocks & Gindung Mc Feddy Simon
Videography: Jun Kan
Community Members: Miseh bte Engkorok, Simon Gindalu, Agnes Jaudi, Nancy bte Jaudi, Jirin bin Madili, Adrian Jirin, Jakie Jirin
Mongomot photography: Catriona Maddocks, Adrian Johnny, Jun Kan
Design & curatorial assistance: Sonia Luhong Wan
Photo editing: Syed Rusydie