RITE meditates upon the fragility of the ritual. /ˈrɪtʃ·u·əl/ a set of actions or words performed in a regular way. This could be the act of daily work, celebration or the simple enjoyment of one's environment. It could also be spiritual. The constant threat from external 'behaviours' pushes cultural tradition and heritage to the brink of existence. In Orang Asli indigenous villages of Sungai Bumbun and Tanjung Sepat, Malaysia, home to the Mah Meri, I witnessed both the joy and devotion of their rituals, honouring spirit ancestors and the land and sea that provide lifeblood to the village, but I also sensed a palpable tension within the community and the landscape caused by outside ‘progress’.

RITE was also inspired by tenets of the Orang Asli, in a quest to find solace with my personal disconnect with the West, politically and spiritually. One can blame excessive greed as the main culprit for the world's problems, but according to the tenet Ubuntu, greed only exists due to the absence of the sense of being human. This is reinforced by the rebuff of the tenet Tenhaq, which causes individuals to no longer feel responsible for others, including those in faraway lands.