Over the last few decades, the presence of contemporary art in South-East Asia has been on the rise. Indonesia has firmly established its place within this bourgeoning international art scene with Jogjakarta, often called Jogja, playing an essential role.
Jogja is renown for the arts, both traditional and modern, that form the core of its identity as a recent cultural powerhouse through annual art events, biennales, cross-cultural exhibitions and exchange residencies. The city has become a leading destination for Australian artists looking to expand their practice. Such programs have assisted in developing a rapport with their Indonesian counterparts, creating artistic networks and collaborative partnerships that have significantly influenced their respective practices, framing their works as extensions of their friendships.
‘Jogja Calling’, an exhibition at Sydney’s 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art examines the long-standing relationship between the Australian and Indonesian art communities. Mikala Tai, Director and Curator of 4A, affirms this connection, “As our closest northern neighbour, Indonesia’s cultural ties with Australia extend back to the days of our earliest trade. The links, networks and friendships between our nations are long celebrated but it has been in the last few decades when the contemporary art scenes have become significantly more aligned. As we started researching these links it became apparent very quickly that residency programs of exchange have played a major role in fostering these links.”
Within this framework, Melbourne-based artist Reko Rennie and Jogja-based artist Uji ‘Hahan’ Handoko Eko Saputro’s light yet critical examinations of cultural identity reveal the urban landscape as a defining influence. Both artists place themselves within each other’s urban environment – Hahan in Melbourne and Rennie in Jogja – emphasising the concept of foreign interaction. Photographs from Hahan’s series Welkome Mate (2012) explores the concept of migration, memory and story through a traveling figure visiting various locations around Brisbane. His identity concealed beneath an embroidered quilt that reads ‘Welkome Mate’. Rennie’s Warriors Come Out To Play (2014) references two dystopian cult films – Walter Hill’s ‘The Warriors’ (1979) and George Miller’s ‘Mad Max’ (1979) – and the social interrogations apparent within their narratives. Rennie’s film incorporates this behaviour into the contemporary Australian urban bikie and outlaw archetype, linking this counter-culture and his own Indigenous ancestry through black leather patch designs and the strong symbolism of the open road.
“The works exhibited aren’t collaborations per se – none of the artists conceived of their works in tandem with each other”, says Tai. “Rather, we have retrospectively curated them into a conversation that provides a framework in which the viewer is able to observe how the lived experience of an artist residency can shape future work.”
The balance of Melbourne-based artist Briony Galligan’s kinetic installation, Door-to-door (2015) echoes the weight of Bandung-based artist Leonardiansyah ‘Leo’ Allenda’s Private Number (2015). Both works invite the viewer to consider the uncertain stability of social relationships through objects and their values. While Sydney-based Abdul Abdullah and Jogja-based Arwin Hidayat reveal a return to craftmanship – where traditional techniques of embroidery and batik dyeing techniques support critical contemporary commentary on politics, economy, culture and identity, specifically through racial and sexual themes.
Some of the works in the exhibition involve participation while others require the visitor to approach from a multiplicity of angles. Tai believes “this is reflective of our relationship with Indonesia. It is one of framing and reframing, of sharing and of balance.”
4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art
22 October to 17 December, 2016
Sydney
#jogjacalling
Reko Rennie, Warriors come out to play, 2014, video, still frame shot
Uji Handoko Eko Saputro aka Hahan, Redcliffe #1, 2012, print on Hahnemuhle Matte paper, 59 x 86cm
Briony Galligan, Door-to-door, 2015, installation detail at St Heliers Gallery, Abbotsford Convent. Teak hands made by Yogyakarta wood carver Pak Lejar based on sketches completed together of Queen Elizabeth I’s hands in The Rainbow Portrait, c. 1600 and his own hands, 2015
Photograph: Christo Crocker
Courtesy the artists and 4A Asian Contemporary Art, Sydney