Moments before Tandav

《在坦達瓦舞之前》
by Mark Morris   馬克・莫里斯
21 x 14.8 cm
4 + 20 pages + 1 photo, Inkjet & Risoprint
ISBN: 978-626-97804-5-7
English, Malay, Tamil, Traditional Chinese
Edition of 200
April 2025

"This is a story conveyed to me by a dear friend, who was wrongfully convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, and became a temporary resident at the Sungai Buloh prison in Malaysia..."
“Moments before Tandav” is a story that happened in a Malaysian prison. Amidst the complexity of ethnic relations and social realities in Malaysia, A person who has been wrongly convicted and temporarily sentenced to a prison term, is left without any support and seeking for spiritual solace.
The main part of the book explores the subtle connections between food, religion, and the government, presented in the form of an archival document.
The “Glossary” includes five subjects : “Tandav,” “Sungai Bulloh Prison,” “This Could Be Us,” “Lingam,” and “Bodhi Tree.” Interspersed with explanations of terms, stories, and real-life accounts, this book presents a deeply complex relationship between criminals, the prison system, racial problems and immigrant populations.
The book is published in four languages: English, Tamil, Malay, and Traditional Chinese, contains four pages of documents, one photograph, and a glossary booklet.

Mark Morris (b.1992)
is an artist born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and is now based in Hamburg, Germany. His work focuses on the interpretation of different coping mechanisms in the society, taking elements from flea market finds, daily objects, verbal stories, personal experiences and social observations. His installation work often appeared  in a smooth and restrained form but presents deep emotions hidden in the civic cultural lives.