Move, move…
One two Three
Bakurima moves!
The music thrums through the room. The Bakurima Forum, a Hip-Hop stage in collaboration with the Biennale Jogja XVI with Hellhouse, danced on the main stage of the Jogja National Museum (JNM).
This performance is part of the Lifetime Achievement Award and the closing act of the XVI Jogja Biennale on Saturday (13/11) night. They sang and invited the audience to dance.
This call to move was matched by a word from the stage by Alia Swastika, Director of the Yogyakarta Biennale Foundation (YBY). Ten years after the event, six sessions of the Biennale Jogja Equator Series were held.
To move across the equator, she said. India, the Arabian Peninsula, Nigeria, Brazil, Southeast Asia, and ends on the oceans of Oceania. “The Equator series offers an alternative to the idea of internationalism,” said Alia.
Meanwhile, Gintani Nur Appresia Swastika delivered a brief report. “From the series of Biennale Jogja XVI, we concluded that all programs are running well and smoothly,” she said.
The Director of the Biennale Jogja XVI stated that the entire implementation of the Biennale Jogja XVI program could be viewed directly through the website https://biennalejogja.org/2021/. We have reported every activity every day as quickly as possible, as completely as possible, both reports in the form of photos, videos, and narration.
During those 40 days, said Gintani, the Biennale Jogja XVI has been enjoyed by approximately 1.5 million people through social media, 236,210 via the website, and 14,590 through direct visits to 4 locations, which could have been larger in number had it not been during a pandemic. In addition, this activity was published in 165 online media portals, 25 print media, and 15 electronic media; local, national and international.
“In those 40 days, we made every effort so that the program could become a medium for the transfer of knowledge and ideas, both from the curatorial side and from the artists who activate their works,” she said.
What to do after the Equator? Eko Prawoto, YBY’s Board of Trustees, said that the equator series is a tool for analyzing the global context. For him, the world needs to be seen in an “other” way. The East-West, North-South, he rejected to move towards the equatorial view.
Demikian pula yang disampaikan Nindityo Adipurnomo yang juga selaku Dewan Pembina YBY. Konsep ekuator jangan lantas dilihat sebagai perkubuan baru.
The same thing was conveyed by Nindityo Adipurnomo who is also the YBY Advisory Board. The concept of the equator shouldn’t be seen as a new “party” of issues.
“As a method, there is a suggestion that the equator exhibition should be continued. After all, there are still many issues and areas that have not been addressed in the ten years of the Biennale Jogja Ekuator Series,” he answered when asked about the sustainability of the Equator Series which was planned to end in this Oceania episode.
Nindit also believes that the value that the Biennale Jogja must continue to maintain is inclusiveness. “Not only consumption inclusion, but also management openness,” he said.
Indeed, he continued, there were many complaints from artists that the Biennale Jogja should be their forum. “It can’t. Foundations are public institutions. So, the public is the life, not just artists,” he said.
In the future, there is a suggestion that goes to the Council that the Biennale Jogja needs to spread its wings to the academic pulpit. “We take this proposal seriously. Because academics are also stakeholders of the Jogja Biennale,” said Nindit.
In that way, he continued, critical discourse does not only revolve around the world of art. But also “eaten” by the academic community.
Despite everything, Nindit hesitated several times to answer. “Sometimes, I feel I have no capacity. The younger ones are more qualified to answer,” he said in a low voice.
After talking to him, we both moved to the stage. Thump thump thump… Bakurima stomped, singing the lyrics “Move, move…”.
As it turned out, it wasn’t just Bakurima who was moving. Biennale Jogja must also “move” its discourse.
