ຍັງດີຢູ່ Yang dee yuu, “still good”, is a phrase that can hold a kind of tenderness. It describes something imperfect, discarded or not quite what was hoped for, while still recognising its value and potential.
ຍັງດີຢູ່ Yang dee yuu extends Mechelle Bounpraseuth’s practice of creating objects of care and memory occupying a space between her mother’s kitchen and the garden.
Baby mangos, longans and canned fruits sit alongside large-scale ceramic swans, bringing together objects of sustenance, offering and care, where everyday acts of preparing, sharing and arranging food become ways of remembering.
ຍັງດີຢູ່ Yang dee yuu also resonates with broader histories of resourcefulness and making do, of finding value in what is available, preserving what can be preserved and making something from what remains. These associations sit alongside histories of migration, colonisation, war and hardship that shape many family experiences.
ຍັງດີຢູ່ Yang dee yuu is not simply about something being “good”. It is an acknowledgement of what remains: still useful, still cared for, still here.