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Cryptic Presents: Discover Indonesia

Date & Time
9 – 13 September 2015
Building
Theme

Celebrating 70 years since the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence (Proklamasi), Discover Indonesia is the largest showcase of Indonesian performing arts within the UK. In Glasgow, Cryptic presents the best of Indonesian visual arts, music, theatre, traditional dance, film and cuisine.

Grand Parade

Jompet Kuswidananto

Thu 10 September – Sun 4 October // 12noon – 5pm (Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun) // 12noon – 8pm (Thu)  // The Glue Factory // Free

Sat 12 September // 2pm // Guided tour with Remco de Blaaj, Curator, CCA // Free

Following his recent success at the Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam, trend-setting innovator and Asia renowned visual artist, Jompet Kuswidananto brings his Grand Parade to Glasgow. Currently up-and-coming in Europe, Kuswidananto is part of an energetic, community-driven art scene in Yogyakarta where he creates multimedia installations that often combine video, sound and mechanized elements.

Featuring fascinating groups of life-sized figures wearing festive, ceremonial and political dress, this colourful assembly is an exploration of identity and the ways in which different, sometimes even contradictory ideologies are negotiated in Indonesian society. His work is inspired by the island of Java and its rich history of continuous transition between religious beliefs, political regimes, rural and urban culture, science and spirituality. The Grand Parade absorbs all of these elements into one shared space that can be both peaceful and playful and in an instant become tumultuous and threatening.

“The juxtaposition of magic and machine, likewise the traditional and the modern, and the classic duality of East and West.”

The Jakarta Post

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Uniform_Code

Jim Allen Abel

Thu 10 September – Sun 4 October // 12noon – 5pm (Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun) // 12noon – 8pm (Thu)  // The Glue Factory // Free

A curious and striking commentary on the current power systems inherent in Indonesian society by artist and photographer Jim Allen Abel. The second installment in a trilogy of works, Uniform_Code investigates the influence of uniforms on those that are seen to be in a position of trust and authority. Based on conversations with his father who was a teacher, and required to wear the distinctive dress assigned to all Indonesian civil servants, Allen’s work focuses on how the idea of uniform is often used to obscure individuality and their specific duties in constituting a bigger entity. Presented as a striking series of passport photographs, each with differently and unusually disguised faces, his work challenges and manipulates our perceptions of recognizable figures and their role in society.

“He became aware that uniforms were in fact everywhere… and he noted how the personal identity of all the members belonging to these groups vanished…”

The Jakarta Post