The annual contemporary art fair based in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, returns this year with the theme Prophecy

July 24, 2024

ARTJOG is not only present as a contemporary art festival, but also a celebration that invites the entire community to be involved in the art holiday together. In this celebration, ARTJOG always tries to become the most accommodating meeting space through art events and activities.

ARTJOG 2024 will take place on 28 June - 1 September 2024 at Jogja National Museum, Yogyakarta Motif: Ramalan as its theme. The guest curator, Hendro Wiyanto (a writer and a curator from Jakarta), and ARTJOG curatorial team formulate works by 48 individual and group adult artists from both within and outside the country (18 of whom are young artists), as well as 36 child and adolescent artists who passed the selection process.

The theme of prophecy covers a fairly broad understanding. Prophecy is an imaginary pattern that connects the intersection between the past, today and tomorrow. As an imaginary motif, the meaning of an event is not completely determined by something that preceded it, like a hypothesis in the scientific field. For artists, prophecy is the imagination and predictive power that drives creativity in the process of producing works. The idea of prophecy theme is not only intended to confirm the fortunes or predictions of fortune tellers in the past; however, this theme offers an opportunity for us to re-imagine the picture of events and hopes for tomorrow.

This year ARTJOG specifically invites Agus Suwage and Titarubi as the commission artists to respond to this theme, as well as marking their collaborative work since 2007 in Singapore Biennale. They present an interrelated idea through am interactive installation works with various dimensions and media. Agus Suwage presents human ear objects as a symbol of the sense of hearing which is very "tolerant" in our social space which is full of noise. In the same room, Titarubi grows various types of rice accompanied by recordings of prayers, proverbs and praise from several indigenous groups that we can listen to as well. This works at least represents the way humans understand a prophecy, as prayer is a hope for a desired situation in the future.

Apart from commission works, ARTJOG 2024 - Motif: Ramalan also features a works by Jun Kitazawa (Japan), Koleksi Menyusur Eko Prawoto, and On Kawara (Japan, 29,771 days). In short, Jun Kitazawa reinvented the lump of iron from the Hayabusa fighter plane (which means falcon or eagle) into a long-tailed kite. Through this kite, Kitazawa brings back fragments of the history of the Japanese occupation of Indonesia in 1942-1945. In depth, he wanted to read past events through the memories of old people who experienced such colonial period.

Meanwhile, Kolektif Menyusur Eko Prawoto reproduced Eko Prawoto's bamboo installation works entitled Leng (2008) which marked his work in the realm of fine arts. This work consists of an arrangement of bamboo in a threshold or in-between position, which combines the techniques/practices of craftsmanship and beauty and brings together the hardness of the material and the poetic expression. This works also reflects Eko Prawoto's artistic practice, perspective, thoughts and work methods at the intersection of architecture, art, culture and life at large.

ARTJOG also presents one of On Kawara's works entitled One Million Years, a monumental series covering 2,000,000 years and consisting of two parts. The first part of One Million Years (Past) was created in 1970-1971. The second part of One Million Years (Future) was completed between 1980 and 1998. These two parts will be read alternately by two volunteer readers. Male readers will read odd years, female readers will read even years, while readers outside these gender criteria can choose as they like. The reading at ARTJOG will continue the last part from the previous reading location, namely in Varese, Italy. Since 1993, this works has been read in various places and countries including Jakarta, Indonesia in 2018.

Through Young Artist Award (YAA) program, the jury team consisting of artists Santi Ariestyowati and Handiwirman Saputra, as well as ARTJOG curatorial team selected three out of 14 young artists under 35 years old based on suitability of theme, medium exploration, and novelty in technique and presentation. The three YAA winning artists are Alisa Chuncue(Bangkok), Dede Cipon (Yogyakarta), and Jay Afrisando (California). Alisa Chuncuepresents the work The Resonance Project, an art project that emerged from a diary about her experience in the hospital which was expressed interpretively through her artistic practice. Then, Dede Cipon describes a prophecy that would happen on earth using the metaphor of the planet Nraekthi, a planet of his own creation, showing the symbols as a spiritual lesson for the Nraekthi Nation not to repeat the same mistakes. in the works entitled Sakan Ad Nraekthisana: The Rise & Fall Of Nraekthi Civilization. Meanwhile, Jay Afrisando, through his works entitled Aural Architecture, illustrates the perspective of an individual's understanding of sound which originates from within the mind, which is presented through gestures and vocals that emphasize inclusivity, accessibility and disability art.

Apart from event in the exhibition building, performa•ARTJOG program, which is fully supported by Bakti Budaya Djarum Foundation, will be present on ARTJOG stage to enliven the festival as a platform for performing arts, performance arts and other live event arts. This program features dancer Rianto and a music group Risky Summerbee & The Honeythiefalong with 57 other performing artists.

During its implementation, ARTJOG 2024 - Motif: Prophecy will present supporting programs, namely Young Artist Award, ARTJOG Kids, Exhibition Tour, Meet the Artist, Merchandise Project, Artcare Indonesia, and Jogja Art Weeks. Further information regarding the artists' work and program agenda can be accessed via the website www.artjog.id.