Untitled 34 engages with the complex reality of being between two places, the idea of moral duality and most importantly, post-colonial hybridity. Part of Nabil Rahman’s show “water bodies”, the work engages with the fluid nature of water—formless and shapeless, yet capable of both unity and separation. Water is a symbol of rejuvenation and mercy, but it also carves borders, shaping landscapes over time. In this spirit of fluidity, Untitled 34 challenges the rigidity of ‘objective’ boundaries. Boundary-making objectifies land and people for political ends, transforming the subjective into a seemingly scientific and objective reality. Although it appears as a clean surgical process and legitimate violence, it is fraught with cultural complexities.  

In his book Asian Borderlands, Patterson Giersch speaks about the history of competition and interconnection in the Southeast Asian borderlands. He highlights the messy nature of territorial consolidation since various indigenous leaders and institutions were significant in the arena of imperial rivalry. There is an important suggestion of territorial expansion not being linear and the existence of boundaries between communities alongside acculturation. Thus, in the cultural landscape, boundaries were not rigid, but porous—which can be seen in the fluid-like structure in this work. There is a gentle slope, and if one looks closely, a joining of dots between the coloured and non-coloured areas. It is a reference to interconnection—perhaps exchange—in this soothing landscape of intricate design.

Water can even signify a spiritual rebirth, which the work evokes in its hope for post-colonial identities in Southeast Asia. These identities are dynamic and intertwined, where boundaries play a dangerous and unauthentic role.