MOVERE

Creativity in the creation of works of art is a dialectical process that is never neutral. It is a long process of struggle of the artist's mind over the world and the reality they faces. It is not surprising that the artistic experiences that they offer along with their works always have an explosive power that can shake our understanding of the reality of the world. Rollo May, an existential psychologist, in 'The Courage to Create' (1994) states that a continuous dialectical process takes place 'between the world and its humans' and 'between humans and their world'; one affects the other so that a complete understanding will not be attained if one of them is omitted. In this perspective, it can be understood that works of art actually have the power to change the relationship between the world and oneself in an understanding that was never predicted before. Thus, it is important to continue to create the momentum of encounters between art and society, one of which is through performance events.

The situation of the world will never be fine. There are so many things that cannot be interpreted by reason alone and they can only be felt purely. In the midst of acceleration of the world these days, the function and the position of performance have become more important. The performance becomes a temporary break from the clamor of information and the reality that runs fasty (post-truth). A performance always offers something that has the power to rip us apart and release us from the shackles of existence, but at the same time it reconnects us to the whole of existence. Therefore, performance will always be a new language to experience.

In order to experience a new language, performance offers a dialectical space that initiates a conversation. At a particular level, it no longer functions as an initiator, but it becomes something that drives the conversation to a critical quality paradigm. This kind of quality is certainly not created through a short process. However, it is the consistent result of artist’s creativity who challenge any risk with courage, continuously and consciously build dialogue in social space. It is this process and achievement that is reflected in the presented performances this year.

Based on the practice of collective creation, Teater Garasi (Garage Performance Institute) never stops making performance as a means of reading reality. In 2001, they initiated a long-running project called Waktu Batu, which draws on Javanese mythology and history and juxtaposes them with transitional situations in contemporary Indonesian society. Between 2002 and 2006, the project grew and was born into several versions of the show. Through re-reading the text, the fourth version of Waktu was born with the contextualization of the idea of an ecological confrontation between the northern world and the southern world. The idea was then processed through the renewal of the language of performance within Teater Garasi. It is an effort to amplify a broad conversations that’s realized through the formulation of intermedial performance (theater x video games x cinematography) that involve performers across generations.

If Teater Garasi's works drives the conversation into the realm of global constellation, as a figure in Indonesian contemporary dance Sardono W Kusumo’s works offers something different. Throughout the course of his career, he has always been immersing himself in experiencing and exploring the universe of Indonesian culture which is often hidden and not seen as a locus of knowledge. Driven by the idea of metalogy, his practice of creation is a form of cultural elaboration that continues to offer new knowledge about the relationship between humans and nature. After Teges Village in Bali, Apo Kayan in Kalimantan, and Bawomataluo in Nias, now he invites us to experience one of the oldest forms of art in the world: Mentawai tattoos. Collaborating with the Mentawai people and tattoo practitioners, Sardono's work invites us to re-examine tattoo as a cultural value that reflects cultural memory, social memory, as well as body and nature memory.

Pushing creativity toward an inward dialectical subjective conversation is another power. Through high conscious control, the small narratives of self can become a force that bounces swiftly with the larger current of world narratives. That’s what happens between Bulqini and a robot named Jack. Jack's birth is a form of manifestation of a long biography between Bulqini, art and technology. As the creation of a program, Jack was conceived and developed to interact not only with humans, but also with various other possible objects. Between 2015 and 2023, Jack has managed to live in a variety of performances. Now, with Mainteater, Jack's program is present in the form of an interactive performance that tries to unravel the relationship between the past and the present, from micro-organisms to more macro changes. Through the languages of digital counting, model manipulation and projected objects, Jack challenges us to exchange views on the exploitative relationship between humans and nature.

They were previously known as Melancholic Bitch (Melbi), now they call themselves Majelis Lidah Berduri (Melbi). Being simple and crazy about accessibility wasn't something they want to achieve, so their absence is an inescapable presence. Each of their works is a universe of serious conversation: an offer of conversation that doesn't hesitate to invite us for a walk. The dialectical situation in Melbi's body is a dimension of a conversation in the kitchen of creativity that will always be longer than the results of the creative dishes on the dinner table. It is not surprising that in the span of 20 years of their journey, this artist collective has 'only' released three full-length albums. With the release of his fourth album, Melbi is once again bringing a discursive relationship to their listeners. Together with a number of collaborators, they transform the stage into a dimension to experience the puzzle of the world: about what is happening and what becomes a discourse today.

In addition to those four main performances, there will also be other performances that stimulate a discussion on various issues. From all of them, Movere was picked as the curatorial theme that frame the performance. ARTJOG 2023. Movere is a Latin word, which is the root word for motive, and means 'something that moves'. This understanding becomes the navigation of the universe of all the presented performances, as well as an affirmation of the mutually supportive relationship between art and society in a continuum of critical conversation. Hopefully we will never finish signifying and understanding a world we will never fully understand. May you have a good time exploring these performances.

Curator

B.M. Anggana