Rilao has just been opened to the outside world after nearly a hundred years in isolation. Its fledgling tourism industry is tightly controlled by the government – visas are tattooed onto the visitor – but an enterprising tourist can still experience a taste of Rilao unsanctioned by the authorities. Propaganda brochures from the Disciples of Lao, avant-garde seafood, an opera about oil workers… this anonymous traveler has sampled various facets of the archipelago, jotting his thoughts down on National Rilao Hotel stationary along the way.
Rilao’s Lost Suitcase includes visa tattoo instructions and regulations, undeveloped film, a newsletter from the Hotel, a Muka tree globe, postcards of Rilao’s Botanical Gardens and the first Rirao Beinalle, letter, diary entries and sketches done in the National Hotel Stationary, underground pamphlets of DOL agitator meetings, a Hotel National Guest Card with some information about the suitcase owner and a small tourist map, a keychain inspired by the sacred Muka tree, a flyer from the Museum of Art and Architecture, a menu from the restaurant Sea Randa, a brochure and catalogue from the Rirao Exhibition, the program and poster of the opera Drilled, and airplane tickets and bag tags.
