Nurul Ain Binti Nor Halim

Nurul Ain Bini Nor Halim (Malaysian, 2000) goes under the artist name Ain. She graduates this summer in Fine Arts at the Royal Academy of Arts, The Hague, Netherlands. Ain was born in Thailand, raised in Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan, leading her to have a diasporic identity and longing for belonging.

Her practice jumps from videos, audios, installations and collaboration-based works but her works are still focused on themes such as belonging, language, memories, national and cultural identity. Her works also reflect her interest in post-colonial discourses such as cultural preservation, exoticism, craftmanships and archives. She also questions the position and role of artists in decolonisation, with reference to Aimé Césaire, “Man of Culture” and how does one embrace a post-colonial history and reconstructs itself through culture and arts.

Her thesis, “A guest to their home country / Tetamu di tanah air sendiri” is her attempt on textualising the concepts of the works that she is currently making in her project, “Re-Learning” Workshop Project. Coming from a humble background, one is often pressured and pushed to be a part of the West system whether its education, institution, entertainment, lifestyle, etc. Following this path, that is frequently presented as a fortunate opportunity, comes at a cost of possible neglect towards one’s motherland. “Be educated like the Western people but never forget where you came from” has become a common saying for mothers and fathers to their children of these identities. Putting a hierarchy to one’s identity than the other, leading to shame, guilt and uncertainty. Her thesis presents the attempts of herself, as a diasporic Malaysian artist, rediscovering and re-learning her familial and national culture.

Ain is also very keen on collaborative works and have held several self-initiated group exhibitions. She takes the role of organising and coordinating materials, props and artworks, as well as ensuring the group is constantly communicating with each other.

Ain is currently focused on creating works where she could explore what does art and decolonisation means for post-colonial Southeast Asian countries as well as what modernisation of arts and globalisation means in these countries.