Singapore War Crimes Trials
Illustrations from 2018-2020
The first set of illustrations were made from 2018-2020. Working together with a volunteer team that wrote the portraits of "marginal" historical figures in the post World War II trials in Singapore, I made illustrations that responded to the stories of complex tragedy, complicity and human survival.
Illustrations from 2021-Present
1. Extracts taken from the trial Shimizu Kiyoji [Kiyogi] and others, WO 235/882. The prosecution’s key witness is Bachee bin O.K.K. Hassan, whose knowledge of the Suluk dialect made him a valuable interpreter from Malay to Suluk for the Japanese.
2. Extracts taken from war trial WO 235/952. Already proficient in French, Dutch and English before the war, Simone Marie Besançon learned Japanese in secret when interned by the Japanese during their occupation in Java. The Allies flew Madame Besançon to Singapore as a Japanese interpreter, bridging the language barriers that affected rudimentary court proceedings. In Singapore, she continued learning Malay and Mandarin.
7. Extract taken from the war trial Shimizu Kiyoji [Kiyogi] and others, WO 235/882, the death warrant for Sergeant Mukai Heihachi. Photograph from the Imperial War Museum in the UK shows Lieutenant Nakamura, his head covered with a white hood, being led to the scaffold. He was found guilty of beheading an Indian soldier with his sword on the Pulau Islands.
1. Extracts taken from the trial Shimizu Kiyoji [Kiyogi] and others, WO 235/882. The prosecution’s key witness is Bachee bin O.K.K. Hassan, whose knowledge of the Suluk dialect made him a valuable interpreter from Malay to Suluk for the Japanese.
The second set of illustrations were made as a personal response to the actual text of the trials. Where previously I was relying on the portraits written by academic researchers, I now wanted to focus on highlighting the language and details found directly in the transcripts of the trials.
To read a personal essay written about these illustrations, click here.
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[1] This list is adapted from the ending stage directions from the ending of And a Child Shall Lead by Michael Slade.
[2] This site currently shows the first batch of portraits, created from 2018 to 2019, The second set will be published in the latter half of 2021: https://www.singaporewarcrimestrials.com/portraits