Song Of The Exile/ 客途秋恨

錄像裝置暨文獻展覽 Video Installation and Archival Exhibition

「客途秋恨」是羅玉梅自2018年起的創作及研究計劃《那傳來浪潮的方向》的小結章。嘗試將不同離岸人的故事，交織出一幅糅雜著歷史丶記憶與想像的遷徙地圖，敍述沿爪哇海丶馬六甲海峽丶七洲洋 [1] 丶太平洋丶南中國海及維多利亞港的海上風景。

「客途秋恨」由多個有聲及無聲錄像組成，包括: 一名曾經修讀藝術的海員[3]利用現成物回溯在遠洋貨輪上「打鐵繡」－補上油漆前將生鏽繡塊打落的聲音；一名敲擊樂手演奏地水南音《客途秋恨》的板；一名二胡樂手拉奏由小提琴家馬思聰創作的《思鄉曲》－一首中央人民廣播電台用作對臺灣及東南亞僑胞廣播的政治宣傳曲; 以及集結記憶拼湊的一條由印尼丹戎不碌港出發到香港尖沙咀鐵路碼頭的海上航道 [2] 。錄像獨白由Jonathan Jonathan聲演。Jonathan沒有中文姓氏，是歸化印尼籍的華人後裔。裝置以「電影現場」（improvised cinema) －現場行為表演方式展演，即時調度錄像丶雕塑丶現成物及檔案資料等素材。

「客途秋恨」一方面嘗試將焦點投向離析分崩，隨人口飄散的脆弱記憶，捕捉那或許在流散旅途只是一掠而過的風景與聲音；另一方面又企圖以「電影現場」作為演練場，搭建偶發性的敘事空間。地域與時空交錯，情感記憶紐結想像，異地與原鄉，離或留。偶然與佈局，空間痕跡，宛如去年的煙火，一吹即散。

‘Song of The Exile’ is the latest chapter of Law Yuk Mui’s long-term project ‘From Whence the Waves Came’ (2018-present). It creates a mental map of migration constructed through the stories of leavers from different time periods, interlaced with history, memories and imaginary reflections of the misty seascape along the Java Sea, the Straits of Malacca, the Seven Islands Sea (Qi Zhou Yang 七洲洋) [1] , the Pacific Ocean, the South China Sea and Victoria Harbour.

‘Song of the Exile’ consists of multiple audio and silent videos, including: a sailor [3] who studied art uses ready-made objects to bring back the ‘rust chipping’ on the ocean freighter – the sound of hammering rust off before applying a new coat; a percussionist plays the dishui nanyin (地水南音) tempo（板） of ‘Wayfarer’s Autumn Lament’ （客途秋恨）; an erhu player plays ‘Song of Nostalgia’ composed by violinist Ma Sicong – a political propaganda song broadcast by China National Radio targeting overseas Chinese in Taiwan and Southeast Asia; and a sea route [2] from The Port of Tanjung Priok in Indonesia to Tsim Sha Tsui Railway Terminal in Hong Kong, pieced together by memories. The video monologue is performed by Jonathan Jonathan. With no Chinese surname, Jonathan is a naturalised Indonesian of Chinese descent. The video installation is presented in the form of ‘improvised cinema’ – a live performance in which materials such as videos, sculptures, ready-made objects and archival materials are employed in real time.

‘Song of the Exile’, on the one hand, tries to focus on the disintegration and the fragile memories that drift with the population, while capturing the fleeting scenes and sounds during the dispersion journey. On the other hand, it attempts to use ‘improvised cinema’ as a drill ground to construct an arbitrary narrative space. Region, time and space are intertwined; emotional memories are entwined with imagination. Foreign lands and hometowns; leaving or staying. Accidental or composed, spatial traces are like last year’s fireworks: dissipated as soon as they were ignited.

[1] 七洲洋（The Seven Islands Sea）

七洲洋喲，海水飄飄
七洲洋是深潭無底的
海水藍到變黑啦！
-《七洲洋上》韓萌

七洲洋，指西沙群島一帶。據說風浪很大﹐珊瑚礁多。以前從廣東﹑福建飄洋過海到東南亞的華人﹐都要經過這個地區。

Oh, the Seven Islands Sea, its water is creasing
The Seven Islands Sea is a bottomless pit
The seawater is so blue it turns black!
– On the Seven Islands Sea, Han Meng

It is said that ‘the seven islands sea ‘with strong winds, high waves and coral reefs, Chinese emigrants from Guangdong and Fujian must pass through this area to South-east Asia.

鄭和航海圖 Mao Kun map 1628

[2] Koninklijke Java – China – Paketvaart Lijnen (KJCPL)

KJCPL 又名Royal Inter-ocean line，是一條由渣華輪船有限公司營運的海上航道。上世紀六十年代，受九三〇事件的催化，中國展開大規模的撤僑活動，大批印尼華人取水道往中國大陸。由渣華輪船有限公司營運來往印尼-香港的輪船都是以TJI 開頭的：

MS TJITJALENGKA（芝渣連加）
MS TJIBADAK（芝巴達克）
MS TJIWANGI（芝萬宜）
MS TJILILUWAH（芝利華）

「TJI 」是西爪哇巽他語的荷蘭語譯音﹐意思為河流。

KJCPL is also known as ‘Royal Inter-Ocean line’. It is a sea route of Royal Interocean Lines Limited. Catalysed by the September 30 Movement in the 1960s, a large-scale evacuation took place China, in which a large number of Indonesian Chinese fled to mainland China by sea. The vessels operated by Royal Interocean Lines Limited sailing between Indonesia and Hong Kong all began with ‘TJI’:

MS TJITJALENGKA
MS TJIBADAK
MS TJIWANGI
MS TJILILUWAH

‘TJI’ is the Dutch transliteration of West Java Sundanese, meaning ‘river’.

渣華輪船有限公司/ Royal Inter-ocean line located in 191 Java Road, North Point, Hong Kong.

[3] 海員 (Artist afloat)

在「渣華輪船公司」（Royal Interocean Lines) 的員工月刊裡反覆出現了一名名叫「郭炳」（Kwok Bing）風景水彩畫家。按月刊記述，他畢業於廣東的「威尼斯藝術學校」（Venice Arts School），二戰後展開了海員生涯，利用工餘時間創作，他的作品曾於橫濱、神戸、悉尼和奧克蘭等地展出。

「客途秋恨」的表演者Damon畢業於浸會大學視覺藝術系。現職海員，兼小獨立書店合伙人。

In the monthly staff magazine of Royal Interocean Lines, the name of a landscape watercolour painter, Kwok Bing, appears repeatedly. According to the monthly magazine, he was graduated from Venice Arts School in Guangdong. After the Second World War, he started his career as a seaman and did creative work in his spare time. His works have been exhibited in Yokohama, Kobe, Sydney and Auckland.

The performer in ‘Song of the Exiles’ is Damon, a graduate from the Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University. He is a seaman and a co-founder of an independent bookshop.