Sisa: re-use, collaborations and cultural activism from Indonesia

6 November – 7 December 2007
Opening Tuesday 6 November 6-8pm
Curated by Alexandra Crosby

Images (from left): Duto Hardono, Untitled, (detail), 2007, ink, coca cola, thread on paper. Courtesy of the artist; Irrennius Pungky, Oleh-
oleh dari penjara (souvenirs from jail), (detail), 2006-07, 96 drawings on cardboard boxes. Courtesy of the artist; Tanam Untuk Kehidupan,
Insect, 2007, discarded objects. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Alex Davies and Alexandra Crosby.

Sisa is the Indonesian word for ‘remains’ or ‘leftovers’. Located between folk art, design, and public intervention, this exhibition finds new forms of expression in the rejection of hyper-consumption and overdevelopment.

Focusing on the issues associated with artistic output in the collaborative settings of contemporary Indonesian environmental activism, many of these artworks were not designed for display in galleries, or for an Australian audience. They include research, adaptations, documentation, and the products of ongoing collaborative projects.

The exhibition poses the question: When culture is related to specific events in local histories and ecologies, such as environmental crises, how can translations and transactions be understood in different contexts such as galleries? In answer to this challenge, Indonesian artists emerge from the rubble of natural disasters, the wreckage of corruption, and the unrelenting hype of consumerism to create more than just hybrid objects or images, but enduring collaborative languages, energized by difference. Many of the artists themselves, as well as the materials they use, are situated in a
space of abjection. They are activists, and they place their work in the context of collectives and movements. Even the individual artists represented here operate from a ‘cast-off’ position, as social sisa.