唯有凶器能治癒傷口— 華格納歌劇《帕西法爾》

「良瑞流亡辦公室」是薩望翁．雍維所成立的虛構辦公室，作為他發表創作的單位。雍維在TKG+的首次個展中所建構出的「國家博物館」，試圖探討撣族流亡者敘事的可能性範圍。像這樣的博物館，即便現今仍是無法在緬甸呈現的。表面上民主化的緬甸，在政治結構上依舊有著嚴重的軍方干政問題，這同時也宣稱了這種作為認知的想像在本體論上的不可能。德國哲學家黑格爾曾使用「Absoluter Gegenstoss」這個詞，而後斯洛維尼亞哲學家紀傑克亦在其著作《Absolute Recoil》（2014）中闡述；然而，看似同義的這兩個詞，在「國家博物館」的副標題之下，卻又未必互為翻譯。Absoluter Gegenstoss是一種主動反擊的力量，Absolute Recoil則是一種反作用力，而兩者的共通點在於，皆為一股相對於原有力量的反向力量。

在黑格爾意義上的抽象是比影像更加真實的，透過具象與抽象的相互抹去，雍維的繪畫便從一種抹滅中浮現，正如同紀傑克所言：「標示出相反運動的可能巧合，讓事物從抹滅中浮現。」雍維認為，無根據的象徵秩序即成夢魘，撣族的歷史因受緬甸軍方壓制，現實並不透明。他的畫作作為一種歷史文本，試圖呈現照片本身所無法表達的「真實」，亦讓歷史的傷口顯得無比真切。在此，「良瑞流亡辦公室」為其流亡的國家建立了博物館。雍維繪畫作品中所出現的人物，包括祖父、祖母、父親與叔叔等家人，在緬甸近代史中參與政治與軍事組織時的肖像照片，撣族王室、緬甸聯邦、撣邦軍，交織成雍維家族史的一方。而緬甸軍政權對撣族及其他少數民族的強勢文化同化政策、族群清洗，亦深沉地透過根據歷史場景照所繪製的作品流露出來，彷彿仍能聞到煙硝味。

矛盾是世界的本質，矛盾的雙方可以共存，但也處在互為差異、甚至衝突的動態之中，直至「揚棄」再進入下一個循環。此核心思想貫穿了雍維的藝術實踐。歷史可以形成力量、奉為信仰，同時也能綁架思想、成為暴力，然而歷史是有真相的嗎？那些被人們視為理所當然的「史實」是否為「事實」，甚至「真實」？歷史作為一個知識系統，儘管當權者擁有官方歷史的書寫權，人民已不再只是被動地被灌輸歷史。我們能夠透過閱讀歷史文本理解到不同的史觀，進一步思考形成自我立場，避免非黑即白的走向極端，這便是一種良善的知識運作狀態。

關於薩望翁．雍維

薩望翁．雍維於1971年出生於緬甸撣邦，為撣族良瑞王室後裔。其祖父蘇瑞泰，是緬甸在1948年從英國殖民獨立後，緬甸聯邦（1948–1962年）的第一任總統，並於1962年奈溫將軍發動軍事政變後死於監獄。雍維與家人被驅逐出境後流亡至泰國，而後再度逃往加拿大並於當地接受教育，現居、創作於荷蘭。雍維的繪畫和裝置作品，與其家族史、緬甸近代史及政治事件高度相關。家族照片為其作品提供了圖像語言之基礎，通過對國家事件的探索，其創作揭示出現有的檔案並非是一個國家的全部真相。雍維亦透過地圖網絡的方式，呈現出海洛因與安非他命等毒品、革命軍、少數族裔、礦業與石油、軍事武裝與政府屠殺等各種衝突，試圖從複雜政治局勢中梳理出秩序。

雍維獲邀參與過諸多大型國際展覽，包括第九屆亞太當代藝術三年展（澳洲，2018）、第12屆光州雙年展（韓國，2018）、達卡藝術高峰會（孟加拉，2018）、巴勒斯坦雙年展（耶路撒冷，2016）、施泰爾馬克之秋藝術節（奧地利，2016）、第12屆非洲當代藝術雙年展（塞內加爾，2016）、印度藝術博覽會（印度，2016）；並聯展於華沙現代美術館（波蘭，2018）、凡艾伯當代美術館（荷蘭，2018）、清邁當代美術館（泰國，2018）、愛爾蘭現代藝術博物館（愛爾蘭，2016）、阿姆斯特丹市立博物館（荷蘭，2016）等。其作品亦獲泰國清邁當代美術館所典藏。

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Die Wunde schliesst der speer nur, der sie schlug.The wound can be healed only by the spear that smote it. — Parsifal, Richard Wagner

“Yawnghwe Office in Exile” is a fictional office created by Sawangwongse Yawnghwe in his practice. For his first solo exhibition at TKG+, he fabricates a “State Museum” to explore possible narratives for Shan exiles. This museum is impossible to exist even in today’s Burma. Democratized on the surface, Burma’s political structure is still heavily influenced by military intervention. It signifies the impossibility of such imagination existing as knowledge. The term “absoluter gegenstoss” has been used by German philosopher Hegel, and later elaborated by Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek in his book Absolute Recoil (2014). Seemingly synonymous, these two terms do not necessarily translate into each other under the title “State Museum.” While absoluter gegenstoss refers to counterattack, absolute recoil is a force of counteraction. They resonate with each other in that they both embody a counterthrust to the original force.

In Hegel’s discourse, abstraction is more realistic than imagery. Yawnghwe’s painting emerges out of its own loss through the figurative and the abstract, one effacing the other. As Zizek writes, “To designate the speculative coincidence of opposites in the movement by which a thing emerges out of its own loss.” Yawnghwe reckons that the groundlessness of the symbolic order is a nightmare. As Shan’s history is suppressed by Burmese military forces, reality loses its transparency. His paintings attempt to present a reality that is elusive in photography, attesting ontological wounds that have become exquisitely harrowing. Yawnghwe Office in Exile has established a museum for a country in exile. The people in his paintings, from his grandparents to his father and uncle, their portraits taken when they were part of the military and political organizations in Burma’s recent history, Shan royalty, Union of Burma , and Shan State Army , together intertwine to form an indispensable part of his family history. Based on historical scenes, these works, reeking of warfare, reveal assimilation policies and ethnic cleansing enforced by military regimes on Shan and other minorities.

Contradiction is the nature of the world. Both sides of contradiction coexist in a dynamic state of difference, even conflict, until they aufheben into the next cycle. This concept is the core of Yawnghwe’s art practice. History shapes power and faith, but it also hijacks thoughts and transmogrifies into violence. Is there truth in history? Do the historical facts that are taken for granted equal to reality, even truth? History is a knowledge system. Even though those in power have the right to dictate history, people are no long indoctrinated in the state’s version of history. Through historical texts, we can understand different perspectives, and form our own stances without being radicalized. And that is a healthy knowledge mechanism.


About Sawangwongse Yawnghwe

Sawangwongse Yawnghwe was born in Shan State of Burma in 1971. He comes from the Yawnghwe royal family of Shan. His grandfather, Sao Shwe Thaik, was the first president of the Union of Burma (1948–1962) after the country gained independence from Britain in 1948. Shwe Thaik died in prison following the 1962 military coup by General Ne Win. Since then, Yawnghwe’s family was driven into exile. They stayed in Thailand, then escaped to Canada, where Yawnghwe grew up and received education. He now lives and works in the Netherlands.
Yawnghwe’s painting and installation practice engages politics with reference to his family history as well as current and historical events in his country. Family photographs also provide the basis for a pictorial language through which he explores events in the country, suggesting that existing and available archives cannot reveal a nation’s entire truth. In addition, Yawnghwe’s work of maps charts the conflicts between drugs such as heroin and amphetamines, revolutionary armies, minority ethnicities, mining and gas pipelines, the armament of generals, and state genocide against its minorities. He intends to bring discernible order to a complex political situation.
Yawnghwe has exhibited internationally. Among these include: The 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (Australia, 2018), The 12th Gwangju Biennale Exhibition (Korea, 2018), Dhaka Art Summit (Bangladesh, 2018), Qalandiya International — Jerusalem Show VIII (Jerusalem, 2016), Steirischer Herbst (Austria, 2016), Dak'Art 2016/The 12th Biennale of Contemporary African Art (Senegal, 2016), Indian Art Fair (India, 2016). He has also exhibited in numerous museums, including: Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw (Poland, 2018), Van Abbemuseum (Netherlands, 2018), MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum (Thailand, 2018), IMMA Irish Museum of Modern Art (Ireland, 2016), and Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam (Netherlands, 2015). His work is housed in the collections of MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum in Thailand.