This work is a tribute and acknowledgement of the significance of tribal and community-based histories and the development of art within these communities. I consider these histories to be just as important as contemporary art histories in Indonesia, which are often overlooked and not thoroughly examined.
The inspiration behind this installation comes from my conversations with Agus Ongge, an artist from Sentani, Papua, who was my collaborator for the Jogja Biennale in 2021. Through our collaboration, we delved into discussions about the urgent disappearance of knowledge and the ongoing tension between contemporary art and traditional practices. We contemplated the role of art and how contemporary artists can contribute to raising awareness about important issues.
Throughout history, various communities have faced significant pressures to abandon their material culture. This occurred during the presence of missionaries under colonial rule, leading to changes in clothing habits and the destruction of statues in the name of modernity. As a result, local knowledge, rituals, and beliefs suffered a significant decline.
To capture the essence of ancestral sculptures, I created a series of ‘totem’ drawings. These drawings depict the human figure in its most elemental forms. I then enlarged these sketches to human proportions, translating some of them into stainless steel, buffalo horn, and bamboo objects. This effort of incorporating the past into our present processes is significant to me, as it speaks to our own existence and allows us to reflect on our history.