Page 23 - 57 X 76 - Hanafi • Goenawan Mohamad

addition to specializing in large-scale art projects in various places; mural projects by Apotik Komik
such as public monuments, murals or dioramas,
also conducted a series of exhibitions of works that
explore the diversity of elements (patterns, symbols,
idioms) of the visual language of the archipelago.
The second was founded by a group of young
artists from Yogyakarta and Bandung whose artistic
manifesto criticized the fine-art paradigm. One of
their relevant exhibitions to be mentioned here is
Project I: Pasaraya Dunia Fantasi (The World Fantasy
Fair, 1987), where GSRB artists tried to ‘erase’ the
concept of the individual as the center of creation.
The exhibition intentionally adopted a teamwork
model that demanded a strict division of labor and
governance (for example, as a ‘publication team’,
‘material search’, ‘research’, ‘space planning’, and so
forth), without any ‘artist’ credit for any individual
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involved.
A number of art projects throughout the late 1980s
to early 2000s showed how collaboration became
a key method in many of the practices of artists
in Indonesia. To cite a few examples: the series of
research, workshops and exhibitions of ‘visual arts
awareness’ conducted by Moelyono since 1986
7 Katalog Seni Rupa Baru Proyek I – Pasaraya Dunia Fantasi,
Jakarta, Dewan Kesenian Jakarta, 1987.
(1997–2006); giant billboards and Taring Padi group
woodcut posters (established 1998); installation
works (established 2000) such as Lekker Eten zonder
Betalen at Cemeti Art House (2003); to the works of
the Tromarama group (established 2006) which use
video extensively. In each of these collaborations we
will find particular methods, processes and execution
of artistic ideas, as well as special ‘extra-aesthetic’
questions.
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Joy and openness
The idea for the 57 x 76 collaboration project arose
spontaneously from Hanafi after he saw the works
in GM’s solo exhibition, Kata, Gambar, at DiaLoGue
(2017). Hanafi and GM have known each other for
a long time, and are even good friends. Hanafi once
asked the GM to write an introduction and open his
solo exhibition Of Spaces and Shadows (2009). He
admires GM as an essayist and literary figure who
has contributed greatly to the development of arts
and cultural activities in Indonesia. For Hanafi, the
initial motive in this project was experimentation.
8 To be able to map a kind of typology and history of collaboration
in Indonesia—something I could not possibly attempt here—it is
important to identify the motives of each individual artist when
deciding to work with other artists, join a particular collective entity
and collaborate.
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