Visualising violence : art and remembrance of mass killings in Cold War Southeast Asia

Abstract

Art and artists have the power to create and challenge narratives. However, an artist’s voice or power may be limited due to the circumstances they are in. This thesis contends that the memories surrounding the events of mass killings in Southeast Asia during the Cold War years can be constructed, reconstructed and questioned through art. The different degrees of artistic autonomy were dependent on the circumstances under which the artists created art in. Looking at three events of mass violence, namely the Vietnam War, the Cambodian genocide by the Khmer Rouge and the Indonesian mass killings of 1965-1966, this work endeavours to highlight artworks that are not connected directly to the Cold War superpowers by taking a comparative, interregional and transnational approach. Using visual analysis along with the histories and memories surrounding the events of mass killings, this paper attempts to place Southeast Asian artworks created with regards to the discussed events in conversation with one another. This thesis seeks to contribute to literature about the Cold War and mass killings in Southeast Asia through the analysis of related artworks.