Too Far East is West (installation), 2003 Poster and house paint, @Schulsaal, Germany

 

Too Far East is West

Artist Residency at Pilotenküche, Leipzig, Germany

The title Too Far East is West captures the tension of living between two worlds — rooted in Malaysia yet shaped by life in Copenhagen. This duality became the compass for my residency in Leipzig, where history and renewal meet at every street corner.

Posters and the City

I lived in a flat with twin folk singers from Ireland in the west of Leipzig and cycled daily to my studio in the east. That six-kilometer ride became part of the work itself. Graffiti, posters, and weathered walls turned the city into a shifting canvas.

Leipzig’s urban surfaces fascinated me — posters layered over posters, some clinging half-torn, others long forgotten until scraped away by the authorities. Each sheet carried traces of the city’s past and present. Riding with a bike fitted with a front carrier, I began collecting these fragments, peeling them carefully to reveal the hidden voices beneath.

Back in the studio, these posters became material for an installation — a visual mosaic that paid homage to Leipzig’s resilience and cultural vibrancy. What others discarded became an archive of collective memory, a dialogue between tradition and the anarchic pulse of the present.

The Last Supper Remix

During the residency I also curated a group performance, The Last Supper Remix. Inspired by da Vinci’s painting, it reimagined the table as a site of sharing — food, ideas, and creativity offered in common. Some participants felt joy in the act of generosity, while others raised concerns about appropriation and authorship. The tension became part of the work itself, showing how participation in art is never neutral.

Diaspora Yellow Curry

To extend this spirit of sharing, I cooked and served a yellow curry spiced with turmeric, star anise, cardamom, and ginger. It was both a taste of home and a reflection of my own family life: Malaysian heritage intertwined with Danish rhythms. Food became another medium — a ritual of memory and hospitality, reminding us that cultural identity is always lived, exchanged, and transformed.

Reflection

Through posters, performance, and food, Too Far East is West became a meditation on what it means to belong to more than one place. It celebrated Leipzig’s layered identity while reflecting my own journey across borders and cultures.

The residency reminded me that art is not only about objects in a studio. It is about movement, generosity, and the unexpected dialogues that emerge when fragments of history meet the present moment.

http://westside.pilotenkueche.net/amir-zainorin-freedom-is-the-centerpiece-of-life/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Acknowledgment
This project was made possible with support from: