SCAF – Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation

Jompet Kuswidananto, born 1976, is a visual artist based in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Commissioned by SCAF, After Voices, 2016, is an immersive, multidisciplinary installation that acts as a space for the exploration of mass hysteria and trauma surrounding the rise and fall of recent Indonesian regimes.

Curated by Alia Swastika, the installation presents a carnivalesque parade of life size ‘ghost figures’ constructed from helmets, clothing, mechanical hands, musical instruments, and motorcycle headlights. Costume, kinetic movement, film and a layered soundscape transform the chaos and violence of these events into a complex sensory experience.

Jompet studied Communications at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. Originally trained as a musician, Jompet turned to the visual arts and went on to work within the local Yogyakata art community. In 1998 and continuing to the present day, he has worked with ‘Teater Garasi,’ a multidisciplinary collective of artists presenting shows that reflect Indonesian life after the fall of the Suharto regime.

Jompet works across a diverse range of mediums including installation, video, sound, performance and theatre. His works explore Indonesia’s history and the complexities of contemporary life in a globalised world. His practice focuses on issues of politics, colonialism, power and mass mobilisation in the context of post-reformation Indonesia.

In 2014, Jompet garnered a major award for emerging Asian artists, the Prudential Eye Award, for his installation work.

Jompet has taken part in significant national and international exhibitions, including the Yokohama Triennale, 2008; Beyond the Dutch, Centraal Museum Utrecht, 2009; the 10th Lyon Biennale, 2009; Indonesian – Eye, Saatchi Gallery, London, 2011; Phantoms of Asia, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, 2012; Taboo, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; 2012; RALLY: Contemporary Indonesian Art –­ Jompet Kuswidananto & Eko Nugroho, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2012; Taipei Biennale, 2012; Asian Anarchy Alliance, Tokyo Wonder Site, Tokyo, 2012; Asian Art Biennale, Taiwan, 2015; and Order and After, Sonica Festival, Glasgow, 2015.

Solo shows include Java’s Machine: Phantasmagoria, Osage Gallery, Singapore and Hong Kong, 2009 and 2010; Third Realm, Para-site Art Space, Hong Kong 2010; Third Realm, site-specific project for the Gervasuti Foundation, 54th Venice Biennale, 2011; On Asphalt, Nanzuka Underground, Tokyo and Project Fulfil Art Space, Taipei, 2012; and Grand Parade, at Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam, 2014.

Alia Swastika has worked as Program Director for Ark Galerie, Yogyakarta, Indonesia since 2008 and is actively involved as a curator, project manager and writer in a number of international exhibitions. She was the co-curator of the Jogja Biennale XI, Shadow Lines: Indonesia Meets India (2011), and was a member of the Gwangju Biennale IX (2012) curatorium.

Alia is a research fellow at the National Art Gallery, Singapore, funded by Singapore International Foundation (2009). She has participated in a curatorial residency in BizArt, Shanghai (2008), and in 2006 she participated in a Kelola Foundation fellowship programme funded by the Asian Cultural Council.

As the director of Jogja Biennale 2015, she is a member of the International Biennale Association Board, and she recently founded ‘Study on Art Practices’, a platform for research into contemporary art in Indonesia.