Zarina Muhammad is no stranger to the subterranean and supernatural. The subject matter across her own artistic histories is not always quantifiable, unshackled to a specific medium. Her works and residencies often manifest themselves in interdisciplinary expressions, largely through installation, performance and text. Some of her past works include Flowers From Our Bloodlines (2017), Talismans for Peculiar Habits (2021, Gillman Barracks) and Restless Topographies (2021, Goethe Institut)—a penchant for the world of the “ghaib” (unseen). Her workshop (which is also part of a larger, long term project) Gentle Ferocities was also recently displayed in Saudi Arabia’s Diriyah Biennale — investigating archival and speculative readings of the land, sky and sea. Nearly all of these projects involve media such as batik, mixed-media installations, and found objects, which might include books, personal belongings, spices, and so forth. 

“For me, the nonhuman also refers to space,” she muses. “The actual physical, architectural environmental space, it refers to the microorganisms and the air. Everything that is seen or unseen, cited, felt, perceived.” Her work advocates for the realities of these unseen beings, allowing them a glimpse out of the boroughs and into the light. 

As a child, Zarina was encouraged to read and imagine beyond the margins of a page. She thanks her parents for creating the space for exploring her peculiarities and curiosities, building on her interest in themes of Southeast Asian mythology and witchcraft.

On top of a career as a multi-disciplinary artist, Zarina also holds years of being an arts educator at LASALLE College Of The Arts, specialising in art history and contextual studies. When asked if there is any way she chooses to define herself or her work, Zarina offers a hearty chuckle. 

“Labels sit uncomfortably!” she reveals. 

With many mediums, collaborators and worlds up her alley, one might wonder about what a process might look like for an artist like Zarina. Of course, there can be no single answers when dealing with a variety of ways of working and seeing. 

“I love that there are all sorts of pages,” she indulges enthusiastically. It’s clear that Zarina relishes the playfulness of art, the honesty of creation and the endless possibilities that come with marrying mediums and communities together. To collaborate with the human and non human means trust, an ethic that Zarina holds dear. “What I value a lot is honesty,” she shares. 

Lambang percintaan (a symbol of love): reflecting on Hari Raya

Jalan Raya then speaks as a culmination of Zarina’s past and present works, uniting her practice alongside trusted collaborators. A series of workshops, lecture and roving performances as well as activations that encompasses many art forms including dance and visual art, it hopes to speak to the public a little differently about the cultural importance of Hari Raya (Eid-Al-Fitr, a major festival marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan). In breaking our usual traditions of making kueh (bite-sized sweets and snacks), seeking forgiveness and back-to-back house visiting, the events offer an invitation to slow down, and focus on the rituals that we may lose in our quest to fulfil our yearly obligations. The event hopes to speak like a “raya open house”—transforming the Esplanade Annexe space to a pavilion, a community centre, or even a void deck. With the works by artists like Irfan Kasban, Hasyimah Harith, HAFI, Dapiku Sweets and Jamil Schulze, Zarina hopes to allow the audience to move through spaces with a keen, attentive eye. 

Combining the different lived experiences of the entire team, she describes the process as a “rather light and shadow”—the in-betweens of a celebration usually perceived as joyous. With an existing interest in exploring varying belief systems, Zarina hopes to explore the relationships of what we are born to, and how we navigate adat (customs), budaya (culture) and agama (religion). 

“It’s our relationship with not just others, but ourselves, and the land we live in…” she reflects. “Planting the seeds, and articulating our losses and longing.” The process of experiencing Raya is then repositioned as reflective, an invitation to look at the self and where you are in your present. 

What does a typical Hari Raya then look like for Zarina? “I’m very consciously selecting who I wish to spend my energy with,” she explains. “For me Raya is actually only one day. For me to just spend time with my immediate family and that's it. Then with friends and found family… It’s just thinking about kinships, and how festive seasons can be really dissociative, lonely times for people,” she reflects on this earnestly, experiences and memories rushing behind her generous aura and wide smiles. These complex experiences form the starting point of Jalan Raya—attempting to create a more expansive space where the audience doesn’t fall into the same clichés that we think of during Raya. 

Of course, not everything about the in-between is inherently melancholic. In spite of these heavy feelings, Raya also manages to be an occasion that is reclamatory and playful. With workshops featuring batik tulis writing, decorating Raya cookies and ketupat weaving, Zarina’s version of a typical Jalan Raya invests itself in traditions we take for granted.

Jalan Raya will be presented as part of Pesta Raya – Malay Festival of Arts 2024 from 9 – 11 May 2024 at Esplanade Annexe Studio.