Ho Rui An is an artist and writer working in the intersections of contemporary art, cinema, performance and theory. Working primarily across the mediums of lecture, essay and film, he probes into the ways by which images are produced, circulate and disappear within contexts of the global power structure.
Against the backdrop of the present-day crisis of late capitalism, The Economy Enters the People re-examines the history of encounters between Singapore and China that emerged when China launched its economic reforms and embraced the market economy. Since the late 1970s, the Chinese government has dispatched thousands of officials to Singapore to study its economic and social policies. The city-state was crucial in reshaping the political imagination of an entire generation of Chinese leadership in a time when “the economy” had replaced class struggle as the primary subject of governance. With corruption having returned as a subject of political discourse following the 2008 global financial crisis and China’s economic rise, this work examines how China drew upon Singapore’s experiences in governance.

Co-commissioned by Asia Culture Center, Gwangju; and Singapore Art Museum
Co-produced by Bangkok CityCity Gallery; Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; and Kunsthalle Wien
Written, performed & edited by Ho Rui An
Production & technical management: Yap Seok Hui | ARTFACTORY

Translation & subtitle operating by Junyoung Lee
Co-presented by Ob/Scene Festival, SFAC theater QUAD