fragments of anonymous curses
There is a saying in Malay, “mulut masin” or “masin mulut” which translates to mean “salty mouth”. “mulut masin” is a manner of speech which is directed towards someone who has a tendency to make things come true by virtue of utterance / speech; almost like spell casting. From well-wishes, prayers to curses, between utterances which desire either peace, destruction or vengeance, the world is filled with spell casters. it is urgent today, that those of you who are “mulut masin”, make your speech into a form of dhikir (prayer, recitation, remembrance?) to counter the people who speak for a kind of destruction, colonizers who weaponize speech to serve their desire for power; speech which has determined much of the horrors we are presently surrounded by.
Bani Haykal experiments with text + music.
As an artist and musician, his work revolves around human-machine relationships/intimacies, examining and reflecting on how tools and technologies have shaped and continue to shape our experiences from commuting to communicating, navigating places and people. Manifestations of his research culminate into works of various forms including site-responsive installations, poetry, and performance. In his capacity as a collaborator and a soloist, Bani has shown and participated in Busan Biennale, Other Futures (Netherlands), MeCA Festival (Japan), Wiener Festwochen (Vienna), Media/Art Kitchen (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Japan) and Liquid Architecture (Australia / Singapore) among others.