Nurins’ Garden of Groceries is a performance by Nurin Nurin set within Family Tree, a nine-part sculpture installation by Alya Hatta. The plant sculptures are a synthesis of organic matter and digital manifestation, displaying family connection on multiple levels through ecology, genetics, community and electronics. This work will then transform into a stage where performer Nurin Nurin is surrounded by hybrid plant sculptures on a bed of leaves and hay.
The performance embodies the roles of the nurturer and provider, with Nurin tending to each plant with care - repeating dutiful actions of misting and cleaning - moving between each plant as voices of family echo for her presence, filling the space with conversation. She rummages through the foliage and hay, harvesting objects resembling onions, garlic and lemongrass - the building blocks of Malay cooking. Her hands, marked by labour, hold these elements close as she inspects and harvests each piece, paying homage to women’s often unseen labour in family caregiving and service, and the cyclical nature of the every day.
These objects of sustenance and tradition echo the core roles women play in preserving cultural identity and nourishment through generations. The work challenges the perceptions of Southeast Asian Women, particularly regarding labour, service, and servitude, which are shaped by a blend of cultural expectations, colonial history, and economic realities. It highlights expectations on women’s roles as caregivers, homemakers, and providers of labour within the family and community. These ideals which are prevalent in the everyday are rooted in colonial legacies which established certain stereotypes about Asian women as submissive, obedient, and industrious, reinforcing a perception of servitude and service as "natural" roles.
In a way of reclamation, these perceptions and expectations have also fuelled a sense of resilience and self-sufficiency among Southeast Asian women. Whilst ideas of serving as a community pillars persists, it is now increasingly layered with stories of agency, strength, and transformation.
At last, with a gesture of generosity, the performer presents the gathered seeds and bulbs to the audience, offering them as tokens to take home. Each member receives a piece of this ecology—a small bundle of seeds or a sprouting bulb, inviting them to plant and nurture these symbols of nourishment and heritage. The audience is invited to continue the lineage of care and tradition in their own lives and communities, transferring the labour onto themselves and building onto the ecology’s diasporic network.
Nurin Yusof (b. 1999, Malaysia), often referred as Nurin Nurin is a performance artist based in London. She has graduated from Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London with a bachelors in Fine Art and is currently undergoing her post-graduate studies in MA Fine Art within the same college.
Alya Hatta (b.1999, Malaysia) is an interdisciplinary artist based between London and Kuala Lumpur. She completed her BA in Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London and her MA in Painting at Royal College of Art (2023). She has exhibited internationally in London, Milan, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, and Tokyo amongst others. Hatta is part of London-based Southeast Asian artist collective 'Unamed Collective'.