Goldsmiths Oriental M-art Online is a hypothetical showcase of an exhibition never realised.

The initial M-art was set to open April 2020, occupying the St James Hatcham church at New Cross, London - an intent juxtaposition of oriental narratives and commercial culture with Western architecture. In the light of a global pandemic, we have taken our M-art online.

The show brings together 18 East and Southeast asian artists selected from an open call, stemming from the diasporas of Korea, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and the UK. The online exhibition touches on the certain themes and issues that have become heightened in recent months - cultural identity, capitalism, orientalism and stereotypes.

Goldsmiths Oriental M-art presents our artists’ contributions of paintings, photographs, installations and zines in the original exhibition space, as recreated on Sims. 

[4 May 2020 - 31 July 2020]


Goldsmiths Oriental M-art was conceptualised during a time of Brexit and Covid-19, where we saW a resurgence of xenophobia and activism against it; where acts of other-ing became subjects of scrutiny and debate.

We were drawn to oriental supermarkets due to their collective displacement in the vicinity of increased exoticism towards East and Southeast Asian discourses.

(How ironic that in the times of a global pandemic, those involved in this exhibition
had become collectively displaced across the world as well)

In the ubiquity of oriental supermarkets archetypes, we found spaces of familiarity and belonging in the UK.

We found diversity placed side by side along shared shelves.

Goldsmiths Oriental M-art Online invites its visitors to not only realise the diversity of orient experiences, but to also reconsider the undermined value of East and Southeast Asian artists.