Collective/ Kolektif: How and why do artists work together?
Wednesday 18 March 2020
12–2pm
RMIT University, Building 24, Level 1, Room 1
124 LaTrobe Street, Melbourne
We are sorry to inform you that our event is cancelled. The event organisers have collectively struggled over the decision to cancel our public lecture and discussion, but feel confident in our commitment to public health, which informed our choice to not host a large public event in a small space. As a precaution, and to help keep our community safe, RMIT will be cancelling, postponing or finding alternative modes of delivery for all events that are not related to our core business of learning, teaching and research effective 16 March.
Hear from a range of artists from Yogyakarta, Bandung, and Melbourne about how their Collectives have organised artistically, politically and financially. Short artist talks and visual presentations will be followed by a group discussion with artists, students, academics and a public audience.
All are Welcome.
Speakers include:
Gintani Swastika, Ace House Collective
Erwin Windu Pranata, OMNI Space
Nuraini Juliastuti, KUNCI Cultural Studies
Wilson Yeung, RMIT Curatorial Collective
Convened by Andrew Tetzlaff, curator, and Dr Marnie Badham, Senior Research Fellow at RMIT University. This event is supported by CAST research group and SPEAKER at the School of Art and Project 11.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Gintani Swastika, Yogyakarta
Gintani completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Indonesian Institute of Art in Yogyakarta (ISI Yogyakarta) in 2010, now she is pursuing her Masters degree in Religious and Cultural Studies at Sanata Dharma University in Yogyakarta, focusing on Indonesian women artists. As an artist, she has been involved in various group exhibitions, residency programs, and art projects in Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Australia. Her works were also featured in the book Indonesian Eye: Contemporary Indonesian Art, published by SKIRA in 2011. She is also one of the founding members of Ace House Collective.
Working collectively where works and responsibilities are shared equally, she developed her artistic, curatorial, and managerial practice through Ace House and various other art projects. Amongst others Yogyakarta Cultural Festival (FKY) where she was appointed as Creative Director (2019), Arisan Tenggara: South East Asia Art Collective Forum where she was the Director (2018). Since then, she has been actively involved in many forums and courses, locally and internationally, such as Southeast Asia AiR Meeting, Taitung, Taiwan (2019), TRANScuratorial Academy, Mumbai, India (2017), 7th Gwangju Biennale International Curator Course, Gwangju, South Korea (2016), 4A Curators’ Intensive, Emerging Curator Forum, at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney, Australia (2014), and Gender Under Reflection on South East Asia Women Artist Forum, Yangon, Myanmar (2012).
Ace House Collective
Ace House is an artists' collective that works with communities and their networks in running a space as a youth art and culture laboratory. Established in 2011 on self-funding, this community strives to support and develop the potential and the contribution to the latest art practices by providing platform for productions, dialogues, and collaborations through assembly forums and exchanges.
Ace House Collective’s artistic vision aims to address the role and function of contemporary art in society today. This includes generating projects that use imitation/fictional institutions as a methodology to represent an art form by using various interpretations of the everyday infrastructure surrounding institutions/trade body that are often encountered by Indonesian people. Through these forms, Ace House tries to engage communities to experience an artwork as a form of ‘common’ activity, negotiating discussions around the concept of 'social class' experiences.
Erwin Windu Pranata
Erwin (known as Ewing) is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Bandung, Indonesia. He has huge interest in methods of working and finding a connection between art and everyday life. For him art is a manifestation of everyday experience. Ewing completed his Bachelor degree in Fine Art from the University of Education Indonesia (UPI) Bandung, and currently he is taking his Master degree in Arts and Design in Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).
He specializes in various mediums, especially 3D, using found objects and readymade items while utilizing popular cultures as subjects. He is an active member of the music group, Pemandangan (The view), a progressive folk genre and A stone A, a noise rock genre band. Erwin is also the founder and director of an alternative independent space and collective, Omnispace, in Bandung.
OMNI Space, Bandung
Established on 16 April 2015, Omnispace is a space, organization and collective that embodies art and alternative activities to support the young culture scene in Bandung. “Omni” is an abbreviation of OMUNIUUM, a record, band/ musician merchandise and book store where Omnispace is located. Currently OMUNIUUM is known as a space that actively supports the music scene in Bandung. “Omni” also refers to a Latin prefix meaning “all” or “every”. Omnispace seeks to be an alternative space that is open to all creative actors creative without medium, ideas and practice limitation. Omnispace aims to discover and explore new possibilities in art and creative practices. Omnispace also collects and brings together creative actors to be able to initiate a variety of programs/activities that benefit the public at large.
As a collective Omni were managed by some members with different backgrounds, now it becomes a fluid space to exchange ideas and share knowledge. Omnispace has also established networking and opened cooperation with similar organizations or spaces on national and international scope.
Nuraini Juliastuti, Melbourne/ Yogyakarta
Nuraini Juliastuti is co-founder of KUNCI Cultural Studies Center, in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, established in 1999. Her research interests are situated between contemporary art production, digital culture, the making of commons, and performance of participation. Nuraini’s research writings have been widely published in Indonesia and internationally. In collaboration with KUNCI, she has produced a body of research works, which use publication, exhibition/presentation, and gathering as modes of intellectual and political engagement.
Nuraini has recently developed her own publication-based project titled Domestic Notes that uses domestic and migrant spaces as sites to discuss everyday politics, organisation of makeshift support systems, and alternative cultural production. With Kunci, she is working on The School of Improper Education (2016–2019), which represents Kunci’s latest conceptualisation of alternative education, artistic practices, and social activism.
KUNCI Cultural Studies
KUNCI Cultural Studies experiments with methods in producing and sharing knowledge through the acts of studying together at the intersections between affective, manual and intellectual labor. Since its founding in 1999 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, KUNCI has been continuously transforming its structure, ways and medium of working. Initially formed as a cultural studies study group, at present KUNCI’s practices emphasize on collectivizing study, by way of making-space, discussion, library, research, publishing, press and school-organizing. KUNCI traverses and connects institutional, disciplinary and local boundaries. KUNCI’S membership is based on friendship and informality, as well as self-organized and collaborative principles. Members of KUNCI are Antariksa (founder), Brigitta Isabella, Ferdiansyah Thajib, Fiky Daulay, Gatari Surya Kusuma, Hayyu Al Qayyumi, Nuraini Juliastuti (founder), Rifki Akbar Pratama, Syafiatudina, and Verry Handayani.
Wilson Yeung, Melbourne
Wilson Yeung is an artist, curator and researcher. He is currently a PhD (Art) candidate at RMIT University. He holds a Master of Art Curating in the Department of Art History at the University of Sydney and a Bachelor Degree of Arts (Fine Art) with distinction awarded by RMIT University. More recently Wilson was the founder and co-curator of the SYDNEY ART CRAWL — Sydney’s Public Art Exhibition, which has been held at the University of Sydney Camperdown campus (2017). He has 10 years experience in curating, planning and coordinating arts and cultural projects for Unlock Dancing Plaza (2011–2012), Centre for Community Cultural Development (2009–2012), The Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation (2011), Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation (2008–2012), Videotage (2008–2009) and Fotanian Open Studio (2008–2009). Wilson’s art practices consider the tension between the will and representation: with what exactly constitutes an artwork and the relationship between the art and the world around it. His works have been exhibited nationally and internationally, including the IMPACT International Printmaking Conference, Pingyao International Photography, Ballarat International Foto Biennale, Hong Kong International Photo Festival and Hong Kong Graphic Art Fiesta. Wilson is currently researching curatorial collaborative practices and the Asian contemporary art in an Australian context. He held the position as research assistant at the University Art Gallery in Sydney University Museum. His research has contributed to several major projects, which includes researching selected objects from the University Art Collection from East Asia for potential inclusion in the Chau Chak Wing Museum (opening in 2018) and the Floating Time Chinese Prints, 1954– 2002 exhibition (2016).
RMIT Curatorial Collective
The team share a common goal of acting as a bridge, creating link ways to connect across the various creative disciplines for all students. RMIT Curatorial Collective is allowing extra chances for professional learning, network and experience, as well as social interaction and understanding of different cultures. Through our art events such as (but not limited to) exhibition making, staging a performance or conducting workshops - these experiences are practical as they are hands-on and in most cases, happening live as you practice by being involved in the process. RCC is looking for self-initiated collaborations to execute art projects amongst postgraduates. With both international and local students participating, we can enhance or exchange skillsets that can include curatorial practices, creative ideas development, critical thinking and arts management. RCC can act as an experimental journey, trial and error, or a research ground within the campus. These activities will be conducted both on and off campus, with selected partners for collaboration. The team has also done projects in Public Space 50 (PS50) and Building 24, which are alternative art spaces within the campus.
Register via Eventbrite
Image: James Vinciguerra, CAST