
Yee I-Lann
Bio

Yee I-Lann (b. 1971, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia) lives and works in Kota Kinabalu. Her primarily photomedia-based practice, often situated at the shifting nexus of power, colonialism and neo-colonialism in Southeast Asia, explores the impact of historic memory in social experience, often with particular focus on counter-narrative ‘histories from below’. In recent years, she has started working collaboratively with sea-based and land-based communities and indigenous mediums in Sabah, Malaysia.
Selected recent solo exhibitions include Yee I-Lann: 2005-2016, Ayala Museum, Manila, Philippines (2016); ZIGAZIG ah!, Silverlens, Manila, Philippines (2019); Yee I-Lann & Collaborators: Borneo Heart, Sabah International Convention Centre, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia (2021) and Yee I-Lann: Until We Hug Again, CHAT (Centre for Heritage, Arts & Textile), Hong Kong (2021), and At the Roof of the Mouth, Silverlens New York (2022). In 2023, she worked with RogueArt and six spaces in the city to mount the project Borneo Heart in Kuala Lumpur, with support from Silverlens.
Among her selected group exhibitions are the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia (1999, 2021); Jakarta Biennale, Jakarta, Indonesia (2015); Yinchuan Biennale, Yinchuan, China (2016); SUNSHOWER: Contemporary Art from Southeast Asia 1980s to Now, The National Art Center and Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan (2017); Asian Art Biennial, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung City, Taiwan (2019); STILL ALIVE: Aichi Triennale, Aichi, Japan (2022); the 17th Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey (2022); and Soft and Weak Like Water: The 14th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, South Korea (2023).
Selected Works
Selected Works












A collection of 60 Bajau Sama DiLaut mats on which have been woven 60 tables. The table is a representation of administrative power and control – colonial, patriarchal, federal, state power. They are the opposite of the non-hierarchical, community-based, open platform of the tikar. Tikar/Meja forms a message from the people on the mat to the people at the table: The table can be rolled up, “eaten” by the mat. Like in a game of rock, paper, scissors.
Selected Exhibitions
Selected Press
- Yee I-Lann's new book celebrates community-based art, cultural identity
- Borneo Heart In KL Reaches A Crescendo With New Books By Artist Yee I-Lann
- Entangled Tikar: Yee I-Lann and the Politics of Mat-ness
- Tate Modern Acquires Works by Maria Taniguchi & Yee I-Lann
- Yee I-Lann at A+ Works of Art
- Bangkok Art Biennale Review: More Chaos Than Calm
- Bangkok Art Biennale: In Search of a New Order
- Martha Atienza’s and Yee I-Lann’s Decolonizing Projects
- New York Exhibitions to See: Fall 2022
- Silverlens Gallery, a Heavyweight in the Southeast Asian Art Scene, Is Flipping the Script by Expanding Westward With a New York Outpost
- What’s Showing at Art Basel 2022
- Art Basel Unlimited 2022: In Photos
- Art Basel 2022: In Photos
- Art Basel Hong Kong Artist Highlights: Contemporary Focus
- Art Basel highlights to check out in Hong Kong, from a Buddhist meditation in sign language to work addressing race, power and identity
- Yee I-Lann: Until We Hug Again at CHAT, Hong Kong
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- These Southeast Asian Art Stars Need to Be on Your Radar
- 'The Body Politic and the Body': An honest look at our society, nationhood and its politics
- ‘An Opera for Animals’ at Rockbund Art Museum
- Singapore's SEA Focus fair navigates censorship and Taipei Dangdai date clash
- Yee I-Lann: Flipping the witch
- Yee I-Lann, Tabled
- Yee I-Lann: ‘Picturing Power’