Biennale Jogja ke-18 KAWRUH: Tanah Lelaku menempatkan sikap kembali ke akar sebagai upaya menyemai pencerahan.
Berakar dari Bahasa Jawa yang berarti pengetahuan sebagai akumulasi pengalaman yang dicerna secara kritis oleh akal budi, KAWRUH dalam lingkup Biennale Jogja ke-18 dimaknai sebagai sekumpulan keragaman praktik artistik yang berjangkar pada sikap dan upaya menyelami seluk beluk pengetahuan tersebut. Pengetahuan yang kemudian dipahami sebagai laku menubuh serta kesadaran yang berakar pada kearifan lokal dimanifestasikan dalam kerangka-kerangka artistik yang hidup selaras bersama alam dan masyarakat sekitar.
KAWRUH: Tanah Lelaku diproyeksikan sebagai cerminan sekaligus riak-riak nilai yang berpendar dalam lini masa perkembangan pengetahuan serta tradisi kolektif warga. Melalui judul ini, Biennale Jogja 18 2025 terus mengembangkan ruang-ruang kolaboratif dan partisipatif dengan warga untuk bisa merefleksikan sejarah lokal, merebut tafsir mitologi dan narasi leluhur, serta melihat lebih dekat dampak perubahan lanskap dan tanah terhadap kehidupan hari ini.
Biennale Jogja 18 2025 akan terbagi dalam dua babak. Babak pertama merupakan sebuah repertoar bersama warga di Desa Karangsewu (tepatnya Padukuhan Boro), Kulon Progo, pada 19-24 September 2025. Kemudian berlanjut pada Babak Kedua di wilayah Kota Yogyakarta, Desa Bangunjiwo, dan Desa Panggungharjo, di kawasan Bantul, Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta pada 5 Oktober hingga 20 November 2025. Biennale Jogja 18 2025 akan melibatkan setidaknya 50 seniman dari berbagai daerah di Indonesia, termasuk seniman-seniman dari wilayah sekitar, serta seniman dari negara-negara di kawasan Global Selatan.
Biennale Jogja 18, KAWRUH: Land of Rooted Practices, positions the return to the roots as a gesture of sowing enlightenment.
The 18th Edition of Biennale Jogja will be anchored in the thematic focus of Translocality and Transhistoricity within the Equator Series. Second Cycle (ongoing since 2023), which began with the theme Titen: Embodied Knowledge Shifting Grounds in 2023. The curatorial team, Bob Edrian, Eva Lin and ketjilbergerak has announced the title for this 2025 edition, KAWRUH: Land of Rooted Practices.
Kawruh, derived from the Javanese language, signifies knowledge as the result of accumulated experience critically examined through reason and intellect.
KAWRUH in Biennale Jogja 18 2025 is understood as a constellation of diverse artistic practices rooted in the attitude and effort to deeply explore the intricacies of such knowledge. This knowledge, perceived as embodied practice and awareness rooted in local wisdom, manifested through artistic frameworks that live in harmony with nature and surrounding communities. As a continuation of its previous iterations, Biennale Jogja 18 will sustain its commitment to closely collaborate with various social groups and engage with the local contexts to encourage the act of reclaiming history, narrating mythologies, cosmologies, and beliefs as a way to respond to the shifting of landscapes, seascapes, and social movements.
KAWRUH: Land of Rooted Practices is envisioned as both a reflection and a ripple of values that illuminate the timeline of knowledge development and the collective traditions of the people. Biennale Jogja 18 2025 will be celebrated in two parts; the first repertoire will be held from September 19 to September 24, 2025 in Karangsewu Village (specifically Padukuhan Boro), Kulon Progo, Special Region of Yogyakarta. The second part will be held October 5th to November 20th in the Yogyakarta area, Bangunjiwo Village, and Panggungharjo Village, Special Region of Yogyakarta. The curators have been working with 50 artists from various parts of Indonesia and international artists from Global South countries to strengthen our long commitment to south-to-south solidarities and resistances.