the sun will rise in the east and deliver us from this long night

Yee Ilann’s photographic installation, the sun will rise in the east and deliver us from this long night, (2012) consists of found images of people embracing that have been digitally manipulated by the artist to retain only their locked arms. The images are intended as a linguistic code, although they also suggest maps or islands, for the artist’s personal mantra with each panel corresponding to the 52 letters that make up the work’s title. The work references the fraught political relationship between peninsular Malaysia and the subordinated eastern provinces of Sabah and Sarawak in the island of Borneo. The mantra reflects the continued hope that the Federal government of Malaysia will eventually honour the constitutional provision granting these provinces one-third representation in Parliament. As the images suggest, however, the path towards this eventuality is not through conflict but rather through engagement and acceptance.