Grace discusses and raises important questions in her journey to understanding the relationship of contemporary art and community art engagement activities in her home country of Indonesia: how they are related and yet unique as art but in both contexts, can inspire and impact people/society. Grace describes a ceramic art exhibition in which JAF created a piece of artwork. This raises questions for her regarding how this work can be valued, and measured in terms of its value or worth other than peoples reactions. One of the final issues that she raises in this video: should this type of art/group/collective work be represented in contemporary art? (Video summary by FOA-FLUX/Paul Koch)

Andung Kelana, one of the co-founders of Forum Lenteng discusses the organization’s primary goal to study various cultural problems in society and to support and enhance opportunities for empowering social and cultural studies in Indonesia. Some of the programs and workshops that are presented include:

Akumassa (eye public) – media literacy program for young people to utilize digital media resources to gather and then publish a book to raise awareness on several important social, governmental and environmental issues in Indonesia.

Halaman Papua – media literacy program managed by Forum Lenteng in four districts in Papua to encourage local communities to utilize creative works by using alternative media (Internet, documentary film, printed text to enhance public awareness of health and health care in Papua.

Videobase – a research project for video development and usage as a medium in Indonesia. (Video summary by FOA-FLUX/Paul Koch)

Debrina Tedja and Helmi Hardian who are part of WAFT-LAB, provide a brief overview of the purpose of this collaborative art and science initiative and then describe some of the various workshops and projects that have been created since its founding. One of their first projects was an electronic music equipment workshop (free and paid workshops) in collaboration with “OK Video-Jakarta“. Some of the other projects discussed include:

OPEN LAB: a collaboration with some other organizations like Digital Native to make a traditional drink using a sound-activated mixing machine with one’s voice.

WARP (WAFT/LAB Artist-in-Residence Program): their 2nd artist-in-residence from Australia and Twist (resident artist) collaborated on a music machine project and worked with a local university to discuss the program. They also visited local media artists workspaces.

TADARUS – a collaborative art project in Lima, Peru to replace the traditional prayer activity time after Ramadan (fasting) ends with an electronic music building workshop for kids with a music jam session at the end.

WAFT-LAB has future plans to establish mobile electronic music workshops, using a van to take the electronic music workshops, seminars and talks EVERYWHERE! (Video summary by FOA-FLUX/Paul Koch)

Ismal discusses the upcoming Village Art Festival and three issues that will be highlighted in the festival that relate to the impact on the community and its cultural history due to the: i) building of a new airport in the local area, ii) building of a major highway in Jatiwangi and displacement of local tile industry with textile factory, iii) building of a dam that affects 20 villages.

Ismal hopes to present these video works to the government’s city planning office as a diplomatic way of expressing the effects of these physical changes to the surrounding lands and local communities. This collaborative work allows him to make an impact on the place where he grew up and hopefully help in determining what his community will be like in the future. (Video summary by FOA-FLUX/Paul Koch)