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Yuca Ishizuka

Title 'Missing Links: Autobiography'

Location Level 4, 1-5 Hickson Road, The Rocks

When 12-6pm, Wednesday to Sunday, July 2007

Japanese artist Yuca Ishizuka installed 'Missing Links: Autobiography' in a historic warehouse in The Rocks. Ishizuka's project featured the installation of 30,000 Swarovski crystal beads, referring to characters of NuShu, a writing system understood only by Chinese women of the Hunan Province.The exact origin of Nushu script is unknown but some believe it dates back 1000 years. Sadly now obsolete, NuShu was initially created to foster solidarity between Chinese women that endured the brutalities of feudal China. All the elements in the installation were composed to rhyme with the state of Nushu. Contemplating the effects of a global Asian diaspora, this delicate installation attempted to elevate ancestral voices whose language is under threat of extinction.

Supporting academic documents about Nushu by prof. Orie Endo of Bunkyo University were available on site, and screening in conjunction with 'Missing Links: Authobiography' was Canadian based Yue-Qing's moving documentary about her travels through China in search of NuShu.

Yuca Ishizuka website

Missing Links: Autobiography 2007

© Yuca Ishizuka 2004

Photo: Jenni Carter