The Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia

‘A for anarchism... B for boundaries...’ - Ho Tzu Nyen makes an audio-visual ‘critical dictionary’ of Southeast Asia. The Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia (CDOSEA) is a kind of online encyclopaedia where each letter of the Latin alphabet has one or more lemmas that stand for topics from the colonial history and national identities of Southeast Asia. The result is an extensive archive with thousands of hours of audio-visual material that is still being expanded. A virtual, critical dictionary that gives insight into the stories omitted from the official history books. Ho uses historical texts and artworks to make unique films, video works, installations, and theatre pieces that are shown worldwide, from the Guggenheim in New York to the Venice Biennale. CDOSEA is his long-term project. One work from CDOSEA that examines the history of the Malaysian communist party can be seen during the online program of the Holland Festival: The Name. visit the website The Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia