Warin Lab Contemporary has been transformed into a fashion boutique during "The Red Chador: Becoming Rogue", which is running until March 29.
The exhibition presents a new experiential work by Anida Yoeu Ali, a Muslim woman of mixed Malay, Cham, Khmer and Thai ancestries, who invites viewers to peek into a luxurious walk-in closet. Her fabric-focused art honours her ancestors' migration across Southeast Asia.
Ali interrogates overly simplified representations of who a person is and can be through larger-than-life personas. In The Red Chador, created a decade ago in Paris, a figure dons a chador, a garment that covers the head and body worn by some Muslim women.
This exhibition showcases the latest iteration of one of her performance personas. Presented for the first time are all new work including 28 unique chadors, two neon works, six images, and The Red Chador: Stranded, a film made in collaboration with Masahiro Sugano.
The centrepiece of the show consists of two new fashion lines of 14 garments on each rack made from flowing fabrics of shimmering varieties for a total of 28 unique new chadors.
While one collection features iridescent, celebratory, and floral patterns sourced from the open-air markets of Phnom Penh and Bangkok, the other is premium minimalist made from a donation of fabric from Jim Thompson Art Center.
Viewers are also invited to perform The Red Chador by wearing and photographing themselves in any of the fabulous chadors using the bespoke selfie stage.
A selection of these photos will gradually appear in the exhibition, culminating in 99 images, an auspicious Islamic number that refers to their 99 names for "Allah".
Warin Lab Contemporary is located at OP Garden, Charoen Krung 36, and opens Tuesday to Saturday from 10.30am to 7.30pm.
Visit warinlab.com.
