Tikar-A-Gagah is a collaboration between Yee I-Lann and weavers in Sabah, Malaysia. The large scale work comprises two mats: one side woven by the Bajau Sama DiLaut communities led by Kak Roziah Jalalid from Omadal, and another woven by the Dusun and Murut communities led by Kak Julitah Kulinting based in Keningau. The woven mat is a utilitarian and cermonial object found commonly across the Nusantara archipelago. When laid out, it becomes a place for social gatherings; and when hung, it becomes an object that triggers the recollection of histories, memories and narratives in the viewer. Tikar-A-Gagah features both traditional and contemporary motifs, revealing the process of co-invention involved in the 18-month long collaboration between Yee and the weavers. Traditional weave motifs are passed down orally from one generation to the next, and Tikar-A-Gagah includes abstract, maritime-inspired patterns of the Bajau sea communities as well as the graphical motifs of landscapes, fauna, and communal narratives of the Dusun and Murut land communities. Interspersed amongst these, are geometric lines, shapes, silhouettes of objects such as table and mat, recurring leitmotifs in Yee's body of work. The work is an extension of Yee's practice, where she critically engages with Southeast Asia's post-colonial history through the framework of gender, geopolitics and indigenous aesthetics. Tikar-A-Gagah was commissioned for the OUTBOUND project at National Gallery Singapore.
