The issue that forms the basis of the artistic practices of Elia Nurvista and Youngho Lee, through which they attempt to draw connecting threads in this exhibition, is an enthusiasm for representing the phenomena of global migration of resources. They have investigated a number of these sources as historical issues, while others have been collected from contemporary encounters.
When we were hit by the Covid-19 in the month of Ramadan, my friends and I initiated to create a drama series in a local language, which was started from a mere friendship networking that now became a collective. We hope that it can be an option for entertainment during self- quarantine.
Along with four artist friends of mine who live outside Palu City, I initiated an online meeting (live streaming via Instagram) for our drawing project and storytelling, I gave it a title as Daring Drawing.
At the beginning of March when I was in Makassar, I joined a deep language training organized by LPDP for three months, March-June. It had been exactly two weeks when I had face-to-face learning and the news about Covid-19 arose and got worse.
Kitchen has been my sweet escape during this self- quarantine due to the Covid-19. Various recipes were made and became an endless experiment. One day, a pack of limes fossils from my uncle who lives in Sukabumi were decaying in a fridge.
In the beginning of March, Yogyakarta set a state of emergency. Practically, there was not much we could do outside the house. At that time, my collective, Gegerboyo, was finishing a project titled “International Mural by Mail” which was one of the projects from a gallery in Portland, Oregon, United States of America.
During this pandemic situation, I spent a lot of time in my studio which also functioned as my home. I made a piece of clay with a scratching technique using a sharp thing.
During this pandemic, my family and I just stay at home. At the beginning of April, we started to feel afraid of what appeared on the news about the Covid-19 and it got worse when the number of infected people increased.
As we know that the Covid-19 arose and hit the fundamentals of human life. It is not only about psychological terror but also economics. Also, there must be more things affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. For instance, educational space has to be shutted down, many art agendas must be postponed. That was all that the government tried in order to break the cycle of the spread of the Covid-19.
The stories of the participants from the Rhizomatic network take us to the point where we can retain the choreography of our lives.
