JumaadiI + Mawarini“Cerita”8 June - 12 July 2009
Cerita II Cerita simply means story. It is constructed like a jigsaw of pixels of personal stories that read our collective memory – a collaborative project between the two Indonesian artists Jumaadi and Mawarini. Jumaadi says this project ‘…it is motivated by a strong will to connect our memory of the past with the present. It is like a string connecting man and a kite.’ Jumaadi explains: ‘My work is about exploring everyday routines, observing object and small things in this life. Life is mundane, frequently banal but I never fail to surprise or shock. I do believe that simple things in life always hold some secrets.” He contined, “Mawarini and I met when I was an artist in residence at the Adelaide Festival Centre in 2008. She was one of the local artists that helped to realise my project. Mawar grew up in a fishing village in Sulawesi, where her father was working as a doctor. After finishing high school in Bandung, West Java, she studied visual arts in Melbourne. Currently she is living in Adelaide, South Australia. During one of our conversations, Mawar told me that her family used to be given fish by local fishermen. Sometimes the fish were almost as big as her. With my own story, although I have been living in Sydney for the past 12 years, I also grew up in a small fish farming village in East Java. When I was 10 years old, I was trained by my father to catch mud crabs with my bare hand. Sometimes the crabs were bigger than my head. Sometimes they bit my little hand. It was painful but I wouldn’t dare move my hand as it would provoke the crab to bite it even harder. I screamed and cried out loudly but tried to relax my hand until the crab also relaxed. When it eventually did, I pulled my hand out and tried to catch it again from behind. After finishing my residency I went back to Sydney and also traveled to some other places. Mawar and I still keep in touch and continue to share stories and exchange news, mainly by correspondence. At the beginning, ‘the fish and the mud crab’s memory appeared to be the main link of our communication. However, as time goes by we discussed more in depth about contemporary art practices and our collective identity “away from our birthplace”. Slowly our correspondence has evolved to become some kind of collaborative project that we refer to as the “Jellyfish Project”. We both love the idea of working on this beautiful but sinister creature.
This piece I collectively sent her 26 drawings of jellyfish-like creatures combined with the fish trap that my father used to make. This series of drawing also depicts lovers, trees and many other images that often appear in my obscure narrative, influenced by Javanese folkloric tradition and shadow puppetry. To my surprise, a week later she sent beautiful drawings added to my story. Usually it takes time to collaborate with another artists, but somehow I felt this project is more like two musicians having a jamming session. One of the musicians plays a note or tune on an island whilst the other one is responding to it with a different note of tune from another island. Perhaps, what connecting the musicians together is the waves. In our case we are connected by signs, symbols and the metaphors of our childhood memories In each of our studios, many more ceritas are taking shape through drawing, painting, artist books, sculpture and also stories.”
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