Selamat Berlepas

‘Selamat Berlepas’ explores the boundaries of Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB), Brunei Darussalam’s capital city. In 2007 the area was expanded making it ten times larger than the first boundary that wes drawn up in 1956. According to 2018 statistics one sixth of Brunei’s population live in the capital, it has some of the most iconic landmarks and scenery. It’s no surprise that BSB has been an artistic fixation providing a backdrop for artistic work and the impetus to create it. The most contemporary creative reflections have been a spoken word piece by May Cho ‘When in Bandar’ and art installation by Ian Chan ‘Se Tin Santan’. While paintings by established artists such as Pg M Roslan or Haji Dayang provide an ordered and pleasant version that’s found along the waters of Sungai Brunei.

The commonality of artistic versions of the capital lie in their locality, within the geographical bound- aries of the old one that was set in pre-independence Brunei. The photographs in the series. ‘Selamat Berlepas’ are taken at the periphery of the 12 mukims which constitute the capital city. In common parlance Bandar refers to an assort- ment of buildings and roads: Lapau, Masjid Omar Ali Saifuddien, Chinese Temple, St. Andrew’s, Tam Kianggeh and others. While in actuality BSB proper creep outwards from the national stadium, major shopping areas and even Brunei International Airport.

In the series a striped light blue canvas punctuates the landscapes, among scenery of construction projects. Ubiquitous on construction sites, it’s synonymous with development and change. Where you see the blue canvas is also where you might see construction workers, diggers and sand. The canvas is protecting the materials used to build and offers a tempo- rary form of shelter for the building structure. What the canvas hides is the photographer and car used as transport to the localities. The photographs are the only thing that remains from that journey.