Songs of SPECX / 史貝克斯的歌

2016
lecture performance
light box, stage, projection, sound samples, 60 min
by Umi Sugiharti, Wu Chi-Yu, Shen Sum-Sum, Musquiqui Chihying
work commissioned by
Taipei Biennial 2016: Gestures and Archives of the Present, Genealogies of the Future

Using oral history and musical sound collection, Sound Route seeks to reflect on both the nature of contemporaneity and the political relationships among different regions shaped by transnational trade and globalisation since the colonial period. The three artists use the historical memory of Formosa as their starting point, but the project is intended as a comprehensive, multi-threaded exploration of early modern East Asian history, highlighting the synchronicity of historical developments across different areas and the diversity of post-modern traits.

Songs of SPECX focuses on the story of Saartje Specx (1617–1636), a historical figure whose experiences serve as a foundation to explore the early modern history of trade in Japan, Indonesia, and Taiwan. Saartje Specx was the daughter of a Dutch merchant and a Japanese woman. In line with its strict policy of excluding foreigners, the Dutch East India Company forcibly deported such mixed-race children to Batavia (now Jakarta), Indonesia, where they were rounded up for control. While there, Saartje became embroiled in a major scandal, leaving her no choice but to marry the evangelical minister George Candidius and accompany him to Taiwan. Her story not only represents a microcosm of the colonial history of an island but also epitomises the countless others of her time subjected to the whims of a cruel fate. Against this backdrop, records of cases like Saartje’s, involving mixed-race girls and forced migration, have been preserved in Japan and Taiwan, where they have even inspired the lyrics of popular songs. By construing pop music as musical interpretations of oral history and employing sounds and melodies as abstract media, Sound Route: Songs of SPECX sets out to deconstruct and compare the stories and migration routes of these women, thereby composing an alternative timeline and route map that chronicles the evolution of capitalism in early modern East Asia. This project is a collaboration between the performing artist, writer, and migrant worker Umi Sugiharti; the sound artist Shen Sum-Sum; and the visual artists Wu Chi-Yu and Musquiqui Chihying.

Lecture performance at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum during the Taipei Biennial 2016

In collaboration with Brilliant Time Bookstore and Taipei Contemporary Art Center
Special thanks for the support from Taipei Fine Arts Museum

Related Information ︎
︎︎︎ Taipei Fine Arts Museum
︎︎︎ e-flux
︎︎︎ OCULA

© 2024 Musquiqui Lab

Songs of SPECX / 史 貝 克 斯 的 歌

© 2024
Musquiqui Lab

Songs of SPECX / 史貝克斯的歌