"This is a story conveyed to me by a dear friend, who was wrongfully convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, and became a temporary resident at the Sungai Buloh prison in Malaysia..."
Moments before Tandav is a story that happened in a Malaysian prison. Amidst the complexity of ethnic relations and social realities in Malaysia, a person who has been wrongly convicted and temporarily sentenced to a prison term, is left without any support and seeking for spiritual solace.
The main part of the book explores the subtle connections between food, religion, and the government, presented in the form of an archival document.
The “Glossary” includes five subjects : “Tandav,” “Sungai Bulloh Prison,” “This Could Be Us,” “Lingam,” and “Bodhi Tree.” Interspersed with explanations of terms, stories, and real-life accounts, this book presents a deeply complex relationship between criminals, the prison system, racial problems and immigrant populations.
The book is published in four languages: English, Tamil, Malay, and Traditional Chinese, contains four pages of documents, one photograph, and a glossary booklet.
「這是一位我的好朋友告訴我的故事：他被誤判了一項他沒有犯的罪行，並成為馬來西亞雙溪毛糯監獄的臨時居民...」
《在坦達瓦舞之前》是關於一個發生在馬來西亞監獄中的故事。在複雜的人種關係以及社會現實中，主角因誤判而暫時進入監獄服刑，描述了在沒有任何精神支柱的困境下尋找心靈慰藉的過程。此書的「本篇」探問了關於食物、宗教以及政府機構之間的微妙連結，以類文件檔案的形式呈現。「詞彙表」部分則收錄了五項主題：「坦達瓦舞」、「雙溪毛糯監獄」、「這也可能是我們」、「林伽」以及「菩提樹」，以名詞解釋、故事與真實報導相互穿插，體現犯罪行為、監獄系統、種族和外來移民之間既深刻又複雜的關係。
本書以四種語言：英文、坦米爾文、馬來文及繁體中文出版，包含四頁文件、一張照片以及一本詞彙本。
Mark Morris (b.1992)
is an artist born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and is now based in Hamburg, Germany. His work focuses on the interpretation of different coping mechanisms in the society, taking elements from flea market finds, daily objects, verbal stories, personal experiences and social observations. His installation work often appeared in a smooth and restrained form but presents deep emotions hidden in the civic cultural lives.
21 x 14.8 cm
4 + 20 pages + 1 photo, Inkjet & Risoprint
ISBN: 978-626-97804-5-7
English, Malay, Tamil, Traditional Chinese
Edition of 200
April 2025
