Decentralization as a Practice
The notion of the rhizome maintains, therefore, the idea of rootedness but challenges that of a totalitarian root. Rhizomatic thought is the principle behind what I calI the Poetics of Relation, in which each and every identity is extended through a relationship with the Other.
Gagasan atas rimpang, oleh karena itu, mempertahankan gagasan tentang keberakaran sekaligus juga menantang bayangan mengenai akar yang bersifat totaliter. Pemikiran rimpang inilah prinsip di balik apa yang saya sebut sebagai “Poetics of Relation“, di mana setiap identitas diperluas melalui hubungan dengan Sang Liyan.
—Edouard Glissant, dalam Poetics of Relation
In addition to viewing the socio-political dynamics in Oceania, Biennale Jogja is also interested in the idea on decentralization. Recently, the theme of decentralization in the context of economy becomes increasingly significant after the blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies have started to be used more widely. Some people argue that the use of the blockchain technology will become a future that is capable of shifting various structures, starting from the centralized national financial system up to the model of economic transaction as well as the scheme of visual art market. The market previously deemed to be hierarchical and centered on several points only will become more spread out evenly and democratically. Of course, we realize that it is too early to judge such practices as a decentralized and non-hierarchical ones, but we interpret such a notion in line with our spirit.
As an institution, Biennale Jogja may also be viewed as a form of new centralization. Ever since the concept of Biennale Equator was introduced in 2011, Biennale Jogja has been trying to strengthen its position as one of significant events in the global visual art scene that has been centered all this time on European countries and the United States of America. In each event, Biennale Jogja involved artists from countries and regions along the equator line, starting from India, Arab countries, Nigeria, Brazil, and countries in Southeast Asia. From various locations around the world, the artists are invited to display their artworks so as to be viewed by a few art connoisseurs in Jogja. What Biennale Jogja does is similar to the logic of other international visual art shows, where with sufficient financial capability, we are able to mobilize artists from anywhere to catch the attention of the whole world. It may be said that the journey to embrace the equator—which was initially intended as an action to build the solidarity of art ecosystem in developing countries—could instead turn Biennale Jogja into a new form of centralization.
In order to avoid such tendency, as a closure of the Biennale Equator series, we wish to self-criticize and test an idea: can Biennale Jogja as an art event or art institution be decentralized? How far the decentralization of a biennale can be performed?
We got other views of decentralization when diligently studying the topography of eastern Indonesia region to Oceania, consisting of a stretch of islands connected by the sea. For the coastal community, the sea is never considered as a separating line. On the contrary, the sea is considered as a connecting bridge. The intercultural encounter is achieved through the sea; the image of interconnected communities is formed; insular territorial boundaries are blurred; and the expansion of identity is enabled. In one of his essays, the social anthropologist Epeli Hau’ofa thinks that the sea is a divided identity and imagination for the Oceanian people. It is owned—and not owned—by anyone.
Standing on it, we try not to put decentralization as a conceptual theme that will only evaporate out of the discussion forums. But we also encourage decentralization as a real practice that may be imitated and replicated in the future. Therefore, in this Biennale Jogja XVI Equator #6, we initiated the Docking Program prepared together with some art collectives and institutions from the eastern Indonesian region, namely the Loka Budaya Museum of Cenderawasih University (Jayapura), Paparisa Ambon Bergerak (Ambon), SkolMus (Kupang), and KAHE Community (Maumere).
Each art collective or institution that becomes a partner of the Docking Program has the freedom to determine the theme, time, and form of activity to be made by adjusting the existing context and needs in each place. On the contrary, the Biennale Jogja Curator Team plays the role of maintaining the brainstorming process undertaken during the Docking Program to be performed transparently and considering various opinions equally. Various forms of support are also undertaken by both sides, in the form of either financial support or social support. Through intensive discussions for several months, we agreed to run the Docking Program with different themes and forms, as well as to respond to a wide extent of issues, such as the celebration of a cultural movement in Papua, the ecological crisis due to reckless development on the coast of Ambon, the daily life of migrant labor in Kupang, up to the offer to perform social and artistic intervention on an ethnography museum in Maumere.
These kinds of efforts to perform decentralization to art institutions need to be tested and further evaluated at the same time. For example, are these kinds of efforts effective enough to narrow the gap and achieve even distribution of access and opportunity for artists living outside the “center” that has been imagined all this time? What is the most appropriate way to prevent this kind of decentralization from being merely an intellectual decoration? Or how do we avoid forms of structural exploitation and silencing often occurring within the art scene in Indonesia?
We realize that the Docking Program in Biennale Jogja XVI Equator #6 is still premature and far from the ideal decentralization imagined. Even the emergence of idea on decentralization is also important to be questioned, as if it were a legitimization of the center and periphery. However, with the spirit of equality and sharing, as well as the redistribution of knowledge, economy, and network, it is worth a try. As a form of institutional action, this effort needs to be supported, developed, and also evaluated continuously in the future art ecosystem of Indonesia.