Sim Chi Yin presents her first solo exhibition in the United States, 归舟: Longings, Returns at Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York, from August 8 to 29, 2026. The exhibition is the fourth chapter of Homelands, the institution's long-term research and exhibition series exploring the political dimensions of memory.
Taking its title from the classical Chinese motif gui zhou (归舟), meaning "homeward-bound vessel," Longings, Returns centres on Sim's ongoing research into the mass deportation of more than 30,000 people, most of them ethnic Chinese, from British-ruled Malaya to China between 1948 and 1960. Bringing together photography, film, oral histories, and archival interventions, the exhibition uncovers this little-known chapter of colonial counterinsurgency while reflecting on displacement, exile, and the complex meanings of return.
The exhibition is accompanied by a performance by the artist onAugust 8. Developed as a new commission for Storefront, the work draws on Sim's family history, centring on her paternal grandfather, who was deported to China and executed shortly after his arrival. Through this deeply personal narrative, Longings, Returns traces the enduring legacies of colonial violence and asks what forms of remembrance and repair might be possible for those whose safe passage home continues to be denied.
