Nine Southeast Asian Artists Showcase Experimental Work at National Gallery Exhibition
Jakarta. Nine emerging artists from Southeast Asia participated in the opening of an experimental art exhibition, titled "Mutual Unknown," at National Gallery Indonesia in Central Jakarta on Friday (02/06).
Taking place in an open studio, the exhibition incorporated novel methods to showcase the artworks on display.
"This exhibition is more a display of the process of art, rather than of finished objects. We allow our visitors to track each step of the journey in producing a piece of art," the exhibition's curator Sally Texania said.
Sally said the exhibition is a platform for the young artists to learn about each other's cultures and art and to create a chance for visitors to communicate with the artists while they work on their projects.
"This sort of thing hasn't been done before in Indonesia," Sally said. "This is an exhibition where artists and visitors can have open conversations about culture."
Thuy Tien Nguyen, a Vietnamese artist participating in the exhibition, said she is not worried to display her techniques in front of visitors.
"Most artists don't like to show their techniques in front of the public, but I am okay with it. I like to share my knowledge of art to everyone," Nguyen said.
Prior to the exhibition's opening on Friday, the nine artists were invited to Bandung, West Java, and Yogyakarta for one-week art residencies. Jakarta's exhibition is intended to display the artists' interpretations of the knowledge they gleaned from their experiences.
Nguyen, for example, was inspired by the traditional Indonesian dish, Indomie Goreng, for her work. The artist said that Indonesian cuisine has a striking similarity to the cuisine of her native Vietnam.
"When I first arrived in Jogja, the curator asked me if I wanted noodles or rice for lunch. Like in Vietnam, noodles are also the second staple food, after rice," Nguyen said.
She said she visited many streetside Indomie stalls in Yogyakarta, known as warmindo, for her research.
In Mutual Unknown, Nguyen will showcase her work, titled "noodle plantation," to illustrate paddy fields found across Indonesia and the region. The finished work is expected to be crafted from building blocks made to resemble Indomie.
Filipino Renz Lee, also participating in the Jakarta exhibition, will showcase work based on his research of Indonesia's second president, Suharto, former Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
"My work is essentially a comparative study between my home country and Indonesia during the 1970s, because both Suharto and Marcos were very similar," Lee said.
CuratorsLAB, an educational program dedicated to support contemporary curatorial practices in Southeast Asia, hosted the Mutual Unknown exhibition in partnership with the Goethe Institut and National Gallery Indonesia.
The exhibition will be open everyday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until June 17 at Building A, National Gallery Indonesia in Central Jakarta.
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