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Situated at the intersections of art, familial relationships, relationality, and rituals, Baibai Research Group (BBRG)* is a transdisciplinary art platform in Singapore that imagines new futures rich with expanded spiritual expressions. Founded by artist Salty Xi Jie Ng following her grandmother’s retirement from physical form, BBRG attends to debates from the intimate starting point of a grandchild at once grieving and curious, looking for her lost grandparent.
*BBRG was formerly known as the Equatorial Research Centre for Ritual & Ancestor Worship.
In this session, Salty Xi Jie Ng discussed BBRG’s time with Ban Kah Hiang Trading, one of Singapore’s oldest Chinese religious goods merchants under the rubric of the Arts-Business x Business-Arts Residency organised by curators Seet Yun Teng and Chong Gua Khee.
The Teo family, which has owned and operated Ban Kah Hiang Trading since the 1950s, are regarded today as unofficial aides who assist their customers to maintain relationships with deceased loved ones. In this regard, BBRG has collaborated with the Teo family in developing a foundational glossary of Chinese prayer items.
During the session, Xi Jie reflected on the artist-business collaboration. She also discussed how an artist may navigate tradition and its re-invention, as well as the role of the ‘intimate-outsider’.
Attendees were invited to contribute to a new online archive that BBRG is developing that collects dreams of departed loved ones.
More details: baibairesearch.art
