He clamped the cigarette in his mouth, pulled it out, then exhaled.
“Eastern Indonesia,” Aryo Bimo, a journalist from Jogja Info whom I intercepted at the back door of the Jogja National Museum (JNM) replied, accompanied by the remnants of his smoking.
It was the biggest impression for Bimo after watching the main exhibition hall of the Biennale Jogja XVI Equator #6 2021 through the Media Preview activity on Thursday (7/10) afternoon.
For him, art has been dominated by Javanese elements for too long. Java-centric, as he put it. Therefore, the opportunity to attend Media Preview Biennale XVI at JNM taught him many lessons.
Previously, Bimo did not know much about eastern Indonesian arts. That changed, he said, when he learned of Arnold Ap from the initial description of the exhibition and installation of the Udeido Collective.
“His role is central, the access minimal. If it wasn’t for the Biennale Jogja XVI, Arnold Ap would still be a stranger to my mind,” he said.
If Bimo emphasized his admiration for the new knowledge about art and history of eastern Indonesia, it was different with the two media crews I met on the third floor. Mira Asriningtyas and Dito Yuwono were their names. “I’m from Ocula, a contemporary art curatorial magazine,” Mira introduced.
Even though Dito admitted that he merely accompanied Mira as a messenger from Ocula, I know that both of them are the initiators of LIR Space, the art collective that initiated the “900mdpl” exhibition in Kaliurang, Yogyakarta.
“Oceania,” answered Dito when asked about the most impressive thing from the Biennale Jogja XVI. Similar to Bimo, Dito also appreciated the committee’s move to raise the theme of Oceania and Eastern Indonesia.
After touring the Main Exhibition of the Biennale Jogja XVI, Dito felt that there was a change in his view of Oceania. “It’s dangerous if there is no change,” he joked.
He feels closer to Oceania as an identity because, he continued, the Indonesian identity in him also shared the cultural context of Oceania and Eastern Indonesia.
Dito could easily answer what his favourite artwork was, which was the installation of “Boko Nukila vs Colonial” by Broken Pitch X Juanga Culture. But Mira and Dito had a harder time choosing. Both feel unable to judge quickly about what’s most impressive.
“Everything is central to reading Oceanian culture,” said Mira, ending our meeting that afternoon.
