This kind of displacement process has been occurring for a long time, for example, the banishment of English prisoners to Australia who then occupied the land of native inhabitants, up to the transmigration program in Indonesia that relocated some people from Java and Madura to Sumatra, Kalimantan, or Papua, which has been passing down various tension over land and identity until now.1Transmigration program has started since the Dutch colonial period in 1905. After the independence, the Indonesian government continued this program massively and it reached its peak during 1974 until 1984. See MacAndrews, Colin. “Transmigration in Indonesia: Prospects and Problems.” Asian Survey 18, no. 5 (1978): 458–72. A spectrum of issues occurred, among others, the issue of diaspora groups’ need to express their identity as a way of remembering their root, up to the more complicated issue of how this migration process also contributes to the cultural genocide of the community living on the occupied land. In some cases, this also changes various expressions of culture, language, food, ritual, up to political behavior.
We are trying to capture various issues rooted in the migration or displacement encouraged by capitalism taking place since the colonial imperialism era until today. It is urgent to discuss such matters because there have been numerous occurrences in Indonesia and Oceania. One of them is the phenomenon of remittance from migrant labor, which becomes a highly significant factor supporting the economy in both regions. This indicates that migration is something that has been normally occurring until now, even though various modes of migration have been occurring in both regions for a long time. As a response to the phenomenon, we propose the title “Roots < > Routes” that attempts to unfold the spectrum of issues between cultural root and mobility, such as between the indigenous community or indigeneity and racism; territorial borders and diaspora; mythology and modernity; extraction of natural resources and ecological crisis; as well as the ideology of development eroding local knowledge and its relevance to the limit of growth.
The concept of “roots and routes” itself has been studied for a long time in many anthropological and sociological research to discuss how attachment or uprootedness between human and geographical location has an important meaning in the formation of a culture.2Gustafson, P. (2001). Roots and Routes: Exploring the Relationship between Place Attachment and Mobility. Environment and Behavior, 33(5), 667–686. See also Clifford, J. (2001). Indigenous Articulations. The Contemporary Pacific, 13(2), 468–490. As is the case with the rooting practice re-articulated by diaspora communities all over the world. In the specific case of island inhabitants in Oceania, the tension or negotiation between resistance and adaption to a new culture becomes a survival strategy that also redefines their root amid the increasingly connected and cosmopolitan world. This is certainly inseparable from various underlying issues, such as marginalization, economic inequality, and ecological crisis. Through the title “Roots < > Routes”, we hope that Biennale Jogja XVI may serve as a forum for mutual learning to listen to different voices, to find alternative routes beyond the map already made, and to articulate our life that is increasingly global and universal but with unevenly distributed welfare.
The artworks displayed in the main exhibition room have the spirit of being harmonious and complementary, so that the exhibition may be read in whole as a joint statement in viewing contemporary social and political issues spanning from the islands in eastern Indonesia to the Oceania region. On the facade of the Jogja National Museum building, we display a mural artwork by the Jayapura artist who is also as a member of the Udeido Collective, Yanto Gombo, entitled ‘Dibungkam’ (2021). The mural illustrates the face of a Dani Tribe man surrounded by various fragments of violence, repression, and racial discrimination often suffered by the indigenous communities of Papua until now.
The mural artwork resonates with other artworks portraying social issues rooted in the fight over living space due to the extraction of natural resources having the implication of ecological damage. Still related to the artwork above, a large room displays the artworks of other members of the Udeido Collective: Dicky Takndare, Costantinus Raharusun, Betty Adii, Nelson Natkime, and Michael Yan Devis. The artworks of these five artists respond to the great theme ‘Koreri Projection’ (2021) that presents an overview of the Papuan’s journey towards Koreri, a space where the souls live in peace after passing through the material dimension along with all of its ironies, i.e. expulsion of living spaces, forced possession of customary lands, silenced voices, and collective memories of human violence and repression by other humans.
In line with it, the artwork of Arief Budiman who previously conducted a residency in Papua for two months, together with Harun Rumbarar and Max Binur, filmmakers and activists based in Papua, creating an artwork entitled ‘Di Tanah Orang Papua’ (2021). The artwork takes the form of a pool installation filled with red water colored by betel nuts, hanging from the ceiling of the exhibition room. Precisely under the pool, a three-minute video illustrating the violence of human rights occurring in Papua is projected. A similar theme may also be seen in the artwork of Vembri Waluyas, a photojournalist actively documenting various social issues in Papua missing (or censored) from the mainstream media. In a series of photographs entitled ‘Ongkos Trans Papua’ (2017 – present), Vembri highlights the construction of the 4,330.07 km long Trans-Papua route designed to de-isolate the region and to improve the economy. Instead, it sowed the seeds of continuous conflicts, triggered deforestation on a massive scale, and increasingly marginalized the indigenous communities of Papua.