Sim Chi Yin's miraculous counter-archive is brought to life

THEATRE ONE DAY WE'LL UNDERSTAND Sim Chi Yin Singtel Waterfront Theatre at Esplanade Aug 30 Visual artist Sim Chi Yin's first foray into performance is a rigorous capstone to her more than 13year search in the archives for her grandfather, who was one of 30,000 people deported to China during the Malayan Emergency (1948 to 1960).

- Shawn Hoo

It is a war that has been forgotten or misremembered in the former metropole as well as Malaysia and Singapore, and suppressed in the Sim family for six decades.

One Day We'll Understand, which presents a slender curation from more than five terabytes of material Sim has accrued, is a miraculous counter-archive brought to life.

For those who have encountered Sim's work in bits and pieces - at gallery shows, art fairs up to the 2024 Venice Biennale - the hourlong multimedia performance constellates her video and photography work in an eloquent summation of her artistic journey.

The only direct photographic evidence of her executed newspaper editor grandfather is a black-and-white shot of him with a camera slung around his neck. It is from this single photograph - suggestive yet woefully silent and insufficient - handed down by Sim's mother, around which Sim has constructed an entire archive.