Artist Yee I-Lann, alongside weavers Roziah Binti Jalalid and Julitah Kulinting, has won the inaugural ANTEPRIMA x CHAT Contemporary Textile Art Prize. They will collectively receive HKD 300,000 (£30,000) in recognition of their work, which was described by the jury as groundbreaking in its complexity and deeply engaged in social issues.
Malaysia-born Yee I-Lann works across photography, video and textile to explore colonial histories and the sociopolitical dynamics of Southeast Asia. She studied at the University of South Australia, before moving to Kuala Lumpur in 1994, and returned to her hometown of Kota Kinabalu in 2017. Here she has collaborated with weavers from both coastal and inland Indigenous communities, as well as local young people.
Her collaborator Roziah Binti Jalalid is a Bajau Tempatan weaver who serves as the head of the Women’s Association of Omadal Island (WAPO). Julitah Kulinting is a Dusun Minokok weaver who recently retired as lead teacher in the bamboo weaving department at the Sabah Handicraft Centre in Keningau. Since 2018, both craftswomen have been working closely with Yee I-Lann to organise and participate in the weaving processes for various creative projects.
All three were chosen as the winner of the prize from eight finalists, including Cian Dayrit, Yinping Hu, Gözde Ilkin, Aluaiy Kaumakan (Yu-Ling Wu), Haji Oh, Rice Brewing Sisters Club and Chun Shao. The international jury was made up of Ann Coxon, former curator of International Art at Tate Modern, Judith Greer, director of International Programmes for Sharjah Art Foundation, Lesley MA, curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, art historian and curator Cuauhtémoc Medina and executive director and chief curator of CHAT Mizuki Takahashi.
Organised by the Centre for Heritage Arts and Textile in Hong Kong, the ANTEPRIMA x CHAT Contemporary Textile Art Prize seeks to recognise traditional craftsmanship in the context of a new wave of textile art, with the aim of promoting artists with Asian connections ‘who offer new insights into textile materials, techniques and history’.
The work of all the finalists will be on display as part of the accompanying exhibition until 23 February 2025. The jury judged the finalists’ work onsite to select the winners, while visitors will also be invited to vote for the winner of the Audience Prize during the course of the exhibition.
