Non-human perspectives & Conservations
Wagiwagi is an ongoing art-driven urban program; it is simultaneously an arts collective, a ‘Terracotta Embassy’ in Indonesia, as well as a platform and incubator for innovative ideas which responds to environmental issues.
Conceptualizing Wagiwagi is the idea that culture can be a primary driver for sustainable living, and that we need to reflect this on fact if we are to live together successfully in future.
Photograph by Yipei LEE, Mahoni and Pine, Majalengka, 2022
Wagiagiwagi brings together artists, scientists, and citizens from around the world. Together, this collective responds to environmental issues not only from a human-centric perspective but also delves into non-human viewpoints and cultural exchanges within hypertext society. The conceptualization of Wagiwagi art labs embodies the idea that culture can serve as a primary driver for sustainable living. It is imperative that we acknowledge this fact if we are to successfully coexist in the future.
Wagiwagi represents the philosophy of contemporary society, focusing on the interpretation of future life and exploring ecosystems from non-human-centered perspectives. We are in the process of reconstructing and reimagining the dialectical methodologies of the “resource-commoner-institution” system. This involves the collaboration and creation of scientists, artists, and citizens who respond to environmental issues from various angles, including sunlight, plants, and land. Additionally, we are considering the basic system design within architectural spaces, which will eventually evolve into the conceptualization of art labs.
In the geographical Austronesian Siraya and Atayal languages, “Wagi” signifies the sun, while “Wagiwagi” translates to “Greeting to nature” and also conveys “What a great idea!” In Chinese, “瓦” represents the tile, symbolizing the boundary between nature and humanity. “集” denotes collectivity and collaboration, while “籍” embodies the identity and belonging of all things.
Thus, beginning with the collaboration between SUAVEART and Jatiwangi Art Factory, our collaborative implementation offers an alternative space for identification, exploration, establishment, resistance, adaptation, and negotiation. This process reflects a particular life practice of “living together” and encompasses reflections on various cultural aspects as drivers for sustainable living.
In 2021 summer, an excited news brought in, that Jatiwangi art Factory wants to explore the sustainability of art practices between communities. (Lumbung Land) This endeavor transcends mere artistic careers, aiming for a long-term relationship that extends beyond the realm of art. This concept was later integrated into the Terracotta Embassy, a facet of the Terracotta City Project, which was showcased at documenta 15 in Kassel, Germany, for 100 days. Subsequently, it was invited to be presented at the “Asia NOW” public project at Monnaie de Paris.
We believe that, apart from Margret and the Bamboo Curtain Studio, there are no other art collectives that prioritize community building with Indonesia like SUAVEART does. However, overcoming challenges such as differences in religion, language, mindset, and other barriers related to time, consciousness, passion, resources, capital, and expectations is no easy feat. The ultimate goal behind this concept remains unclear, as it is not merely about the ideas of individuals, small groups, or collectives, but rather about a social movement unfolding in Majalengka, West Java.
With limited time before documenta, Taiwanese artist researcher Sharo Chi-Chu Liang spent 2.5 months, from March to mid-May, living with members of Jatiwangi art Factory, striving to understand their gestures and interactions with local villagers. Subsequently, Taiwanese artist Chih-Hua Huang traveled to Kassel in mid-May to continue the implementation with Jatiwangi art Factory members throughout the summer. Celyn Bricker, Yipei Lee, Kay Hung, Orbit Lin, Hsin-Chieh Hung, and How Ho joined in the preparation, opening, and encountered the COVID outbreak. Simultaneously, Taiwanese artist Wei-Chien Huang embarked on an Artist in Residency project at Jatiwangi Art Factory in August, acquainting himself with Village Kaputren. Our researcher Yu-Chi Lai, along with interns Ying-Zhi Chang and Yi-Shan Yang, joined in the final stages of the exhibition, contributing to its dismantling.
What remains after documenta 15 and beyond?
Since March, visits have been made to several villages and locations alongside locals, members of Jatiwangi Art Factory, and international communities. These visits occurred in August, September, November, January 2023, and continue to the present day.
If we are to envision future life, how can we transform construction or architecture into flexible demonstrations of sustainable living? Could Wagiwagi become the next frontier in embracing nature? Can local residents motivate themselves toward greater social intervention?
If the notion of sustainability exists between cross-border communities, will it be equally interpreted in both territories?
We prepare two kind of water from different countries and regions. Cooking same tea, but came out very different taste.
Left: River Beishi (Pinglin, New Taipei City, Taiwan)
Right: River Cimanuk (Kaputren, Majalengka, West Java, Indonesia)
🍃 Fragments on land (workshop series)
14 January, 2023
10-11:30am (Water filter design)
16-18pm (Water fermentation – Kombucha)
This episode which titled “ Fragments on land” demonstrates the current processing of Wagiwagi project that implemented in Majalengka together with international cultural practitioners and local community villagers. Each context reflects the certain questioning status towards our environment and living resilience which is not only limited in Indonesia, but also in our original hometown.
Through “Water Filter Creation” and “Kombucha Fermentation” workshops: creating water filtration devices to provide clean water; making kombucha drinks to provide probiotics; and collecting plants and spices for secondary fermentation to design local flavors, Keting Chen tried to reconnect the inside and outside of the body by using WATER, which is the element most needed by living creatures.
In the afternoon, we continue the workshop by making local Kombucha which is defined by using the water from River Cimanuk.
Villagers are writing down their wishes to Kombucha and naming their first DRINK fermentation.
Episode 1 : Fragments on land, Winter, 2022
Date : 17-31 Jan, 2023
Opening : 16pm, 17 Jan
Venue : Bale Budaya, Kaputren
This episode which titled “ Fragments on land” demonstrates the current processing of Wagiwagi project that implemented in Majalengka together with international cultural practitioners and local community villagers.
There are several topics that arose during residency programs, field researches, samplings, interviews, and so on, such as Water, Soil & Forest, Agriculture & Food, People and Industrialization. Each context reflects the certain questioning status towards our environment and living resilience which is not only limited in Indonesia, but also in our original hometown.
Water, Soil & Forest: Ke-Ting Chen, Wei-Chien Huang, Lauro Nächt, Li-Chun Chang, Illa Syukurilah Syarief
Agriculture & Food: Pei-Ying Lin, Dark Matter Labs, Johannes Wiener
People and Industrialization : Anchi Lin [Ciwas Tahos], Kay Hung & Orbit Lin, Sharo Chi-Chu Liang
Meanwhile, we also co-worked with local people to contribute their real thoughts on different phases, particularly drawing a series of imagination of forest with disabled children conducted by Lauro Nächt, and sharing the family stories and local folks by old photo collection conducted by Yipei LEE.
With limited common languages to communicate, we try to unfold the invisible descriptions between our life patterns. Portraits, gestures, clothes, actions and objects are the coexisting evidence of characters. (Social) spaces are imagined as society in human context, however the spatial spheres between human and nonhuman are involved more appropriate places to social relations.
Afterwards, we cordially invite you to rethink a few questions; when was your last time stepping into nature? What’s your connection with the environment? What’s your manifesto to greet nature? What is future? What’s ecosystem integrity?
Village Kaputren is facing the transformation from agricultural society into urbanization, which includes the infrastructure development, factory expansion, capital rearrangement, educational system etc.
Some people are curious about the construction, which designed and contributed from SUAVEART members. To implement the construction on the foreign territories, we have tried hardly to communicate the suitable process, policy, regulation, and resources. Due to one of the JaF member divorced and lost the land and context of construction meaning. It is forced to shift into Village Kaputren, where is facing the different social context with the previous original.
The land authority is belong to private and government, Jatiwangi art Factory acts as the third party to connect entity abroad and local people. Again, the gap of communication came out not only for Taiwan, but also on Switzerland side. How to synchronize the information and compromise the wishing list from local communities?
It’s a very brave experimental socio project, and still taking time like fermentation, as the process of city development.
If you are interested in what’s happening now, there are several platforms have deeply engaged either with JaF or Village Kaputren to follow up.
Wagiwagi Album (→)
Wagiwagi IG (→)
Village Kaputren IG (→)
Jatiwangi art Factory IG (→)
Publication
Activity
2022.3-5｜Residency program (Sharo Liang) in JaF, Indonesia
2022.5｜Ethnicity and Region: Locality and Diversity in Southeast Asia (Academic seminar)
2022.6-9｜Documenta 15, Kassel, Germany
2022. 7｜Wagiwagi – Meeting Art and Ecology at documenta 15, Germany
2022. 7｜Presentation of Possible Land # imaginations (Yipin Huang) at COSCOP Conference, Taipei, Taiwan
2022.8｜Residency program (Wei-Chien Huang) in JaF & Kaputren Village, Indonesia
2022. 8｜Culture for sustainable living /International Conference on Indonesian Culture (ICONIC, G20)
2022. 9｜G20 events in Borobudur together with JaF, Indonesia
2022. 9｜Forum 27 – Apakah Kita masih Puriya mimpi yang sama with JaF, Indonesia
2022.11-2023. 1｜Residency program (Yipei Lee & Keting Chen) in JaF & Kaputren Village, Indonesia
2022. 10｜Forum 27 – Peluang Ruang Aktivasi Terracotta Embassy with JaF, Indonesia
2022.11｜Perhutana Exhibition in Gedung Sate, Bandung together with JaF, Indonesia
2022.12｜Perhutana- Growing trees with family forest in Jatiwangi Village together with JaF, Indonesia
2023. 1｜Workshops & Exhibition (Fragments on Land) in JaF & Kaputren Village, Indonesia
2023.9 & 11｜Lecture at department of Fine Art in Zurich University of the Arts, Zürich, Switzerland
2024. 1｜Master Hawu x TKW Competition, Kaputren Village, Indonesia
Written in April, 2023
Updated in Jun, 2024
Stay tune..
細着藝術 SUAVEART 