The afternoon sun illuminated the statue of R.J. Katamsi at the Jogja National Museum (JNM) complex. Six people from Biennale Jogja (BJ) XVI Equator #6’s organizing team were sitting around, waiting for the Media Preview agenda to start at 16.00 WIB.
The sun was scorching, causing droplets of sweat to form on our foreheads. The blazing light against the eyes made us cover them in reflex. At the same time, two men: one with long, the other short, approached the counter and filled out the registration form. They are journalists, one of which is from Radar Jogja.
When asked about the art exhibition coverage, the journalist replied, “It is possible to study the work and the artist. Maybe the theme too. (I) still don’t know what I’m going to write,” he said with a laugh.
Not long after, others followed. Nine journalists from printed media, television, online, and social media put their signatures on the attendance sheet. You can see the names of the media, both national and local, including TV One, Kompas, Bernas.id, Detikcom, Radar Jogja, Antara News, and Posterseni.
Now that they have gathered, Ayos Purwoaji, the curator of the main exhibition of BJ XVI, immediately led a tour for the media crew. It starts with an explanation of the facade work of the Udeido Collective. They seemed enthusiastic for Ayos’ explanation.
Ayos guides the media crew to view the Udeido Collective installation, titled “Koreri Projection”. The work presents a picture of the Papuans’ journey to Koreri, which is the space for souls to live in peace after passing through the material dimension and all its ironies. Their traces stay on the displaced living spaces, the seized customary lands, the silenced voices, and the collective memory of violence and human oppression by its kin.
The tour continued with a brief explanation of each item in the main exhibition on the first floor of JNM. Tohjaya Tono (a collaboration with Franky Marley), Edith Amituanai, Antoine Pecquet, Arief Budiman, A Pond is the Reverse of an Island, Eunike Nugroho, and Sriwati Masmundari, are several artists whose artworks are displayed on the first floor.
Kurator Ayos Purwoaji sedang menyampaikan gagasan pameran kepada awak media.
After 40 minutes of exploring the first floor, Ayos invited the media crew to observe the artworks on the second floor.
There, Lakoat.Kujawas exhibited a work titled “Pah Afatis, Sonaf Aneot.” The media crew followed Dicky Senda, a member of Lakoat.Kujawas, into the installation room while Ayos waited for them outside.
Dicky briefly explained the artwork’s idea, followed by a nod of approval from the media crew. The earlier journalist from Radar Jogja left the installation room to capture the description of Lakoat.Kujawas’ work.
“The work of Lakoat.Kujawas and Udeido Collective, in my opinion, is the most interesting. His artwork must be sincere because it emphasizes the oppression of local people,” he said while continuing his Media Preview tour with Ayos Purwoaji.
