Arahmaiani, Stitching the WoundArt by 25 Indonesian and 15 Indian artists is on display at Taman Budaya Yogyakarta and the Yogyakarta National Museum for this year’s Biennale Jogja XI — Equator #1.
Running from Nov. 26, to Jan. 8, 2012, the Yogyakarta Biennale, which started in 1988, this year offers a tour of friendly countries just north and south of the equator.
The Jogja Biennale foundation felt that India would be a good place to collaborate, and “Shadow Lines: Indonesia Meets India” shows how artists from both countries address contemporary conditions and
focuses on topics dealing with religiosity, spirituality and faith — areas perceived to have similarities in both countries.
Throughout history, Indonesia and India have been connected by religion. Almost all the religions now practiced in Indonesia were brought by Indians through trade or sacred missions, said Alia Swastika, the curator of the Jogja Biennale.
Observations of the Indian art scene show how religion, spirituality and faith are some of the most popular issues drawing the interests of Indian artists, she added.
Indian co-curator Suman Gopinath noted that when she first visited Yogyakarta earlier this year, she saw more similarities than differences. Considering the limited time and the theme of the biennale, she decided to invite Indian artists who she knew had created works on the topics or religion and spirituality.
Five Indian artists visited Yogyakarta and worked on projects before the event began. K.P. Reji spent time working on three paintings at Entang Wiharso’s studio in Kalasan, Sleman, Yogyakarta.
His three-painting series, School, portrays today’s weapons inspired by conflicts told in the Indian epics. He drew images of happy teenage boys and girls spending time at nice places juxtaposed with the presence of military personnel and their weapons.
N.S. Harsha, who lives and works in Mysore, India, arrived a few days before the biennale opened but managed to collaborate with two local mural artists. He showcased an abstract floor painting that tells of the complexities of the universe.
Sculptor Valsan Korma Kolleri, who lives and works in Kerala, India, experimented with ceramics at a pottery industry center in Kasongan village, Bantul.
His outdoor work responded to a 15-meter-long wall outside the museum with an installation called Coherent Earth, which used materials from the environment such as fiber, bamboo and terracotta.
Coherent Earth was his expression of gratitude and support for the preservation of nature. “We all came from nature and will eventually meet our demise in nature, therefore we better create the best with our time and never be against nature,” Kolleri said about his work. Back home in India, he said, he has been manipulating recycled materials over the last 10 years for most of his sculptures.
A similar ideology about human existence was featured by Indonesian artist Nurdin Ichsan in Linkage, a standing human statue made of clay. He put teardrops on the figure to represent the outer-self experience that can change the pure form into something that can no longer control itself. Every teardrop encourages a person to change and also literally sends one back to one’s origins, the soil.
Sakshi Gupta’s Reality Bite explores day-to-day confrontations with those closest to us. She put in conflict the comforts represented by a nice bed and cushions and a sense of bewilderment and grief through a created valance made of kilograms of odor-provoking red hot chili arrangements.
Riyas Komu, who lives and works in Mumbai, presented Undertakers III, an installation of carved wood expressing his personal pursuit to question the underlying links between religious ideologies, memories, iconography and cultural inheritance.
The challenge in the collaborative exhibition, according to curator Alia Swastika, was to show the best works of Indonesian visual artists with the limited art infrastructure in Yogyakarta despite its vibrant activities in visual art and its artists. Like some older works featured by Indian artists, this also seemed to lead her to a number of works that have been previously featured in other exhibitions, including the recent art market, “Art Jog 2011”.
For example, a work by Christine Ay Tjoe, Today I Kill The First Layer And I Find Other Layer Living As Landscape, Landscape, Landscape, is in the form of two typewriters, leaving only three letters: G-O-D.
Theresia Agustina Sitompul showcased the latest version of her installation, The Noah Ark, a final assignment for her graduate study at the Indonesian Institute of Arts (ISI) in Yogyakarta. She has been interested in depicting narratives from both the New and Old Testaments and the fantasies she found in them.
Arya Panjalu and Sara Nuytemans have a photography project, Bird Prayers as their response to the contentious issue of religious conflict. They also held a workshop with elementary school students in Kadisoro village, Bantul.
Wimo Ambala Bayang, Ka’bahAfter a series of discussions about the existence of different religions and performances outside the classroom, the students were asked to write their prayers in paper masks. Sixth grader Hendarto wished for unity among different religious believers, whereas another student prayed for his neighbor to always be blessed despite having a different faith than him.
Other videos were presented by Tromarama, a group of young artists from Bandung. They admitted that their work was part of their personal search for faith and God.
Indonesian video art pioneer Krisna Murti showcased two videos, Video Poem and e-ART-h-quake #4, which do not speak about the images being shown. Instead, the audience is invited to have their “poetic” experience in another space through an uninterrupted flow of a waterfall and other images.
Wimo Ambala Bayang, in his work Ka’bah, displays four photographs of miniature replicas of the Ka’bah in Mecca. Wimo deliberately photographed four replicas with different visual characteristics. One would be surprised to compare the replica at Parangkusumo beach in the southern coastal area of Yogyakarta with the absence of iconic images and the one in Probolingo, East Java, where Islamic images like mosques are nearby.
This shows how sacred icons in religious texts, which are actually representations of God made by humans, have been interpreted differently depending on the cultural background of each place.
Biennale Jogja XI offers different perspectives on religion and faith and ways to build critical and analytical thoughts on related social conflicts. By showing artistic practices, the organizers hope to open up a dialogue about faith and religion in society.
Biennale Jogja XI
Taman Budaya Yogyakarta (TBY) and the Yogyakarta National Museum
Until Jan. 8, 2012
Open from 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. every day except Dec. 24 and 25, 2011
Equator festival and parallel events are organized during the biennale (www.biennalejogja.org).
