Singapore Biennale 2022 “Natasha”

For Natasha we introduced a first version of Echo, which is a Tarot Deck and Reading Form. Echo is inspired by the poems of the African American-Japanese American poet Ai Ogawa as well as individual and collective readings we did during the past years, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The installation at the biennale includes Echo and other Tarot Materials (decks and reading guides) and a Fake Therapy Station (decks, pillows, and manual), Reiki books, and the Collected Poems of Ai Ogawa. All of these materials are available to members of the public who wish to engage in readings with each other throughout the exhibition.

On March 18th and 19th, 2023 we have hosted a two-day Sensing Salon programme where we introduce a first version of the Echo Tarot deck. On the first day, we have discussed our approach to reading and introduce the basic structure of the Tarot and the traditional interpretations of each card. On the second day, we introduced the Echo Tarot Deck, its process and development, and used a preliminary deck to perform a collective reading with the participants.

The Echo Tarot deck takes the poems of African American-Japanese poet Ai Ogawa as a starting point to produce a new vision for the tarot, one that speculates on nonviolent as well as generous and generative ways of living on this planet.

The Singapore Biennale 2022 “Natasha” was curated by Ala Younis, Nida Ghouse, June Yap and Binna Choi.