TAN Thiam Tjo
Born: 16 July 1887 – Died: 8 February 1946
Particulars:
Thiam Tjo was born in Taipei in Taiwan. He was a widower with one son and one daughter as well as a sister living in Solo, Java in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. He was working as a merchant. When the Pacific War broke out, he was taken to Australia and interned at Loveday Internment Camp in South Australia. He died of bronchial pneumonia at the age of 58, still in detention four months after the war ended. His grave is in the Japanese Cemetery in Cowra, New South Wales, Australia.
–Mayu Kanamori
More info:
Lien-hung Chen
Artist/s Statement:
‘Drifting Offshore’
I used the Dutch developed game Sailaway III to simulate a virtual voyage. Together with Mr Tan Thiam Tjo, we set sail offshore – but where should we head? To Solo, Java, where he once lived, or to Formosa, his birthplace? In the end, I chose to depart from waters near the Cowra Japanese War Cemetery, navigating toward Solo, Indonesia. Our vessel sailed the Tasman Sea, Bass Strait, the Great Australian Bight, and the Indian Ocean, finally arriving in Java. During the eight day journey, we faced winds and waves, gazing at the boundless sea and the changing cycles of day and night. I imagined the feeling of returning home, sensing how time stretched endlessly and how distant home truly was.
Artist Bio:
Lien-hung Chen is based in Tainan, Taiwan and uses photography to explore the connections between memory and others. They enjoy slowness and a touch of poetry, creating commemorative objects from life experiences that can be revisited through memories of the past.