OEI Tjong Lie
Born: 5 May 1887 – Died: 19 August 1942
Particulars:
Tjoing Lie was a born in Palembang, Sumatra in the then Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. He was married with one daughter, and was working as a commission merchant in Jambi, Sumatra when the Pacific War broke out. He was taken to Australia and interned in Loveday Internment Camp in South Australia, although his family was left behind. He died of congestive cardiac failure at the age of 55. His grave is in the Japanese Cemetery in Cowra, New South Wales, Australia.
–Mayu Kanamori
More info:
Tzu Hsuan Yang
Artist/s Statement:
‘Wing Towards Spring’
I found a World War II trench in Japan, dug by Taiwanese boys under colonial rule, to build aircraft for the Japanese military. Though I couldn’t enter, a flickering light deep inside felt like a signal from the past. This work explores the contradiction of memories that remain out of reach, yet still shape us deeply. A once loving folk song ‘Bāng Tshun-hong’ (Longing for the Spring Breeze), re-written as a military anthem, echoes from the trench, layered voices across time, longing, loss, and unresolved ties.
Wing Towards Spring (2025) is a Digital video, 3.17 min
Artist Bio:
Tzu Hsuan Yang’s practice centres his memory and human connection across cultural boundaries. In one work, he returned to a red light district in Taipei, Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic, using pre-pandemic photos to explore how crisis reshapes memory. Another piece retraced his grandfather’s World War II service in the Japanese military. He aims to explore how memory shifts across time and place.