Memory, Migration, and the Ever-Reconstructed Meaning of Home in “I will tell you when I am home”
Through I will tell you when I am home, an exhibition whose title is borrowed from Hala Alyan's memoir, ara contemporary brings together six artists whose practices explore the complexities of place, displacement, identity, and belonging.
The exhibition navigates the uncertain terrain between the desire to be rooted in a place and the reality that movement is inseparable from life. Through painting, sculpture, installation, photography, and mixed media, the participating artists reflect on migration, memory, and cultural inheritance while examining how these experiences continue to shape both personal and collective identities. Their works trace ideas of unraveling and becoming, loss and redemption, as well as origins that have been lost and reconstructed.
Rather than presenting belonging as something fixed and absolute, I will tell you when I am home approaches it as an ongoing process of negotiation. Across their individual practices, the artists explore the space between departure and arrival, memory and reinvention, revealing how the idea of home is continually lost, reconstructed, and reimagined. Together, their works suggest that belonging is not defined by a return to one's place of origin, but by the ability to sustain continuity through experiences of displacement.
The exhibition features six artists whose practices are shaped by distinct geographies, research, and lived experiences. Dutch artist Nazif Lopulissa explores themes of place, identity, and cultural legacy through his Moluccan heritage, while critically engaging with issues of decolonisation and multiculturalism. He is currently an artist-in-residence at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam.
Based in New York, Shuyi Cao presents a multidisciplinary practice that investigates the intersections of archaeology, ecology, science, technology, and cosmology through material-based research. She recently completed an artist residency at Ruang Arta Derau in Bali.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese artist Nguyễn Phương Linh, whose work was recently presented at the Uzbekistan Pavilion during the 2026 Venice Biennale, contributes a body of work inspired by her observations of the striking uniformity of employment opportunities available to working-class Vietnamese women across urban centres around the world.
Also featured in the exhibition is Singaporean artist Khairulddin Wahab, whose practice draws from cultural geography, environmental history, and postcolonial narratives. His works examine plantation histories and the colonial power structures embedded within Southeast Asia's environmental landscape.
Vietnamese artist Arlette Quỳnh-Anh Trần, a recipient of a Graham Foundation grant, reproduces pages from Bauhaus journals layered with hand drawings and AI-generated imagery. These visual compositions are created from prompts developed using elements drawn from the artist's own locality.
Completing the exhibition is Indonesian artist Mar Kristoff, who recently concluded his residency at Gasworks in London. His practice reflects on memory, archives, and the fluid ways in which identity is continually constructed and transformed.
I will tell you when I am home is open to the public through August 9, 2026.
