Fruit Song 生果文

Fruit Song is an installation in which Chun Yin Rainbow Chan 陳雋然 uses the metaphor of decaying fruit to convey ideas of loss, birth and death. It evokes the lament of the women who are expected to enter arranged marriages, which to some was akin to death. The work comprises two large paintings on silk to which song lyrics are added through calligraphy, painting and embroidery. Sadness and loss are further conveyed through an electronic sound composition in which Chan manipulates her own vocals together with field recordings and fragments of conversations shared with the female Waitau elders. The lament ritual consisted of the bride singing and weeping for three days in front of family members before leaving for the groom’s family home.

Since 2017, Chan has been exploring the histories and experiences of these first settlers of Hong Kong, known in Cantonese as the Waitau people圍頭 (Mandarin: Weitou), especially the women of the community. Chan came to Australia in 1996 at the age of six. Her mother is originally from the Waitau clan that resided in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It was Chan’s interest in understanding her own identity that inspired her to research her mother’s matrilineal line, which can be traced to first Waitau who came to Hong Kong during the Song dynasty (960–1279).

Today Waitau culture and language are disappearing, and a younger generation may not have the opportunity to experience it. Chan’s research has involved not only learning oral traditions but also studying traditional crafts including backstrap loom weaving techniques. It has been through Waitau songs, including the ritual bridal laments, that she has learned the dialect.

It is through what Chan describes as ‘imperfect acts of translation’ that she explores diasporic connections and disconnections from her country of origin and her Australian lived experience. At the same time, she is trying to reinvigorate Waitau culture and language by bringing them to the attention of international and younger audiences, offering a reminder that there is something of the past worth saving for the future.