BIENNALE JOGJA XIII EQUATOR #3: “Hacking Conflict - Indonesia meets Nigeria”
Artistic Director: Rian Rosidi
1 November – 10 December 2015
“Hacking Conflict – Indonesia meets Nigeria” was the 3rd edition of the BJ (Biennale Jogja) Equator series, following the first edition in 2011 (India) and 2013 (five Middle East countries). Managed in a new vision and direction by Yogyakarta Biennale Foundation, the Equator series present a strategy that utilises the line the Equator draws around the globe as a concrete practice in exploring and re-reading the world, visioned and projected until the year 2022.
Victor Ehikhamenor, The Wealth of Nations. Image courtesy of Biennale Jogja XIII
Anggun Priambodo, ‘Voices of Equator’, site-specific installation and video. Photo credits Kelas Pagi Yogyakarta and Biennale Jogja XIII
The theme “Hacking Conflict” recognises the historical similarities between Indonesia and Nigeria, specifically their colonial pasts, release from military regimes in the 90s as well as the speculations and conflicts surrounding the desire for democracy, autonomy and power. The theme explored how the diversity of ethnic groupings, traditions and languages combined with an abundance of natural resources and the legacies of colonial and authoritarian rule created a fertile ground for the cultivation of opposition and conflict in the articulation of freedom.
This exploration included an understanding that this freedom must be invited and understood absolutely as something which must be managed in order to create unexpected harmony. However, in this context democracy is not merely seen at a political level but is also understood as a way of living together in all of our differences and our chaotic economic, social and technological infrastructure, based on the principles of living that society is currently experiencing. A strategic but speculative strategy is required to take apart this conflict, so that it can shift from asymmetrical to symmetrical patterns.
Aderemi Adegbite, detail of ‘Al-Ikhlas. The Purity The Reading’, Photography on Islamic Slates. Photo Credits Kelas Pagi Yogyakarta and Jogja Biennale XIII
Amarachi Okafor, ‘I learnt this!’, mixed media painting installation, interactive activity. Photo credit Kelas Pagi Yogyakarta and Biennale Jogja XIII
Kurniadi Widodo, Punkasila
The curatorial team for the Biennale Jogja XIII was formed by Ali Swastika as the Director, Rian Rosidi (Artistic Director), an independent curator and lecturer at the Art Institute of Yogyakarta (ISI), Woto Wibowo (Curator) currently the Director of MES56 Art Space that focuses on the development of contemporary photography, and Jude Anogwih (Associate Curator), the curator at the Centre for Contemporary Art Lagos in Nigeria. The curators worked together in the implementation of the main programs of the BJXIII.
For the Main Exhibition 35 artists were selected, of whom 23 were from Indonesia, and 12 Nigerian artists. Some of the Indonesian selected names: Ardi Gunawan, Anti Tank, Arief Yudi, Dodo Hartoko, Elia Nurvista, Fitri Setyaningsih, ketjilbergerak, Serrum, Tarlen Handayani, Wukir Suryadi, Yazied Syafa’at, Yudi Ahmad Tajudin dan Yustoni Volunteero. A few of the Nigerian artists were Aderemi Adegbite, Amarachi Okafor, Emeka Udemba, Ndidi Dike, Olanrewaju Tejuoso, Segun Adefila dan Victor Ehikhamenor.