Jakarta, 27 August 2021 — Museum MACAN embarks on a new collaborative contemporary art project, titled ‘Present Continuous’, that brings artists and artistic communities together, from all across Indonesia. Initiated as a reaction to COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, it was developed through collaborations with some of Indonesia’s most vital arts organizations and contemporary art biennales, who have commissioned five artists to develop work for the exhibition, supported by five curators from the artist’s local area.

Present Continuous / Sekarang Seterusnya launches on 16 September 2021 with a panel discussion with the project co-curators, which will kickstart a longer curated series of talks, presentations and online group discussions that will occur prior to the launch of an exhibition set to open for viewing at Museum MACAN from 18 December – 15 May 2022* with strict health and safety protocols. Designed as a platform to give voice to the artistic communities over a large geographic context, this project will connect artists and their communities through a broader selection of experience such as a program of talks, presentations, and online group discussions.

Present Continuous / Sekarang Seterusnya is organized and initiated by Museum MACAN, in partnership with five art organisations: Biennale Jogja, Indeks, Jatiwangi art Factory, LOKA and Makassar Biennale. The exhibition opens up strands of conversation represented by different perspective and practices, where five appointed cocurators: Anwar Jimpe Rachman, Arie Syarifuddin, Elia Nurvista, Putra Hidayatullah, and Rizki Lazuardi together with the Museum MACAN curatorial team will invite the audience to learn deeper about the artists and local cultural issues that impact communities across the country. Projects commissioned through Present Continuous / Sekarang Seterusnya will enrich programs across the country, as research cross pollinates other projects and presentations that the co-curators are working on. These collaborative works will also appear in other exhibitions and biennales to gather wider exposure of audiences around the country to artists’ ideas and their work – especially when travel is curtailed as a result of the pandemic.

This exhibition will include four artists and two art collectives: Arifa Safura & DJ Rencong (Banda Aceh), Mira Rizki (Bandung), Muhlis Lugis (Makassar), Udeido Collective (Jayapura), and Unit Pelaksana Terrakota Daerah (Majalengka). Presented live and throughout the related online programs, the exhibition explores the overlay of Indigenous perspectives; collective memories, histories of sound and its relationship to ideas of the neighbourhood, mythology and plants; and artist-led ‘creative’ industries that result in real policy change and ground-up economic development.

Aaron Seeto, Director, Museum MACAN and project director of Present Continuous / Sekarang Seterusnya, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has required us to imagine new ways to connect artists and audiences, as well as to think differently about research and collaboration. These disruptions form new ways of creativity, collaboration, and support, especially in Indonesia, where both access to technology and geography pose barriers to participation. Organizational collaboration like Present Continuous / Sekarang Seterusnya is one way to work through these limitations. I’m glad that the artists and art communities are able to present different perspectives on local cultural issues through artistic works.”

Anwar Jimpe Rachman, co-curator, said: “I have selected the artist Muhlis Lugis who has an interesting approach to woodcut printing, a method that is not often applied by other Makassar artists. His work is rich and highly detailed and deeply influenced by South Sulawesi folklore, enriched with myth and landscape that is closely related to the Wallacea Line, a major concern in the Makassar Biennale.”

Arie Syarifuddin, co-curator, said: “We are presented by UPTD, a collective drawn from the local industry of terracotta production, made up of artists and non-artists who are involved with this traditional and historical material. We will present Terraditionale House which reimagines the traditional terracotta house and plays with the idea, form and material that is widespread and available in Majalengka.”

Elia Nurvista, co-curator, said: “Coming from the spirit of decolonisation as the main soul of Jogja Biennale Equator series, we are highlighting the social, economic, and contemporary political issues; the raise of society awareness towards cultural heritage, decolonisation mindset practices, taking over the territorial areas and fighting for positioning in the society, migration, and the shift in spirituality and traditional living cause by modernisation. We invited the Udeido Collective to share these various social and cultural issues to the greater public.”

Putra Hidayatullah, co-curator, said: “I was researching to find new articulations and fresh artistic expressions, which later took me to a topic that I didn’t intend to, as I have often worked on the issue of memory and violence. My encounter with Arifa Safura has somehow taken me back there. Through our conversations on finding the ‘present continuous’, we came with living memories and trauma of violence in the context of Banda Aceh. Together with her husband who is also an artist and musician, DJ Rencong, the collaborative works encompass music, drawings, and installations.”

Rizki Lazuardi, co-curator, said: “Indeks embarked on research to observe the aural dynamics in kampungs in Bandung, with the perspective of care and protection. We found that in these clustered kampungs, sounds aren’t merely overheard; they are perceived emotionally. We invited Mira Rizki, or known as Miki, as our long collaborator renowned for her artistic practice involving sound and its related interactivity. In her previous projects, she successfully intervened and rendered aural elements of social interaction around the domestic environment.”

A curated series of online public programs will be presented, throughout the project, with discussions hosted by Museum MACAN as well as the partner organisations and curators. A comprehensive guide and program updates can be found on our website. The exhibition will be on view from 18 December – 15 May 2022 with strict health and safety protocols at Museum MACAN. A range of integrated digital activations, and virtual guides will be presented alongside the exhibition for those who are unable to visit the museum in person.

Present Continuous / Sekarang Seterusnya is an initiative of Museum MACAN and has been generously supported by Project Eleven (Melbourne, Australia) and Julian & Cahaya Juwadi. With program support by the Museum’s Virtual Program Partner, Festivo.

Follow the latest updates on ‘Present Continuous’ via www.museummacan.org and shop.museummacan.org, and our social media platforms (Instagram | Facebook | Twitter)

Media Contact
Liviani Eka Putri
liviani.eka@museummacan.org | +62812 89326819