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M+, Hong Kong, © Nalini Malani
Nalini Malani 納里尼．馬拉尼
Remembering Mad Meg 回憶瘋狂的梅格
2007–2019
This immersive audiovisual work takes inspiration from the Flemish folktale of
Dulle Griet, or Mad Meg, and specifically its depiction in a 1563 painting by Pieter
Bruegel the Elder. In the story, the fearless, indomitable Meg leads a group of
women to storm the gates of hell. Nalini Malani’s installation comprises
animations, lights, sound, and eight suspended, rotating Mylar cylinders on
which she painted a series of figures, including Bruegel’s depictions of Meg
and her demonic adversaries. Light projected onto the cylinders produces
an intricate, layered play of shadows on the walls of the space, recalling the
traditions of shadow theatre in Malani’s native India. Sounds consist of music,
the wails and moans of a female voice, and a quotation, in English, of the German
playwright Heiner Müller: ‘When the living can no longer fight, the dead will.
With every heartbeat of the revolution flesh grows back on their bones, blood
in their veins, life in their death.’ As the work’s title suggests, rereading and
revitalising the past are key to Malani’s ambition. Remembering Mad Meg is part
of the artist’s ongoing project of reinterpreting stories of mythical and historical
female figures from around the world. For Malani, Meg is a symbol of female
strength and courage, a champion of humanity’s future in the face of oppression
and destruction.
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