Jalan-Jalan, video by Mark Salvatus for 900mdpl (2019)

900mdpl: Genealogy of Ghost and How To Live with Them” is the third iteration of 900mdpl biennial site-specific project in Kaliurang – Yogyakarta. Kaliurang is an aging historical resort village 7 km away from the caldera of Mount Merapi, one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia. Kaliurang is located on an average altitude of 900 meters above the sea (in Indonesian: 900mdpl) and around 2800 inhabitants of Kaliurang today are living in an immediate vicinity with the active stratovolcano.

With awareness of the unstable force of nature and how the ground is continuously moving beneath us; the “900mdpl” project proposes a possibility to create a growing socially-engaged archive of the village and to preserve the collective memories of the people. The “900mdpl” project brings together local and international artists for a research residency and production of a new work.

The 1st edition of “900mdpl” was held in 2017 as a ‘family portrait’ of the community and the neighborhood; presenting works by Anggun Priambodo, Maryanto, Edita Atmaja, Eva Olthof, Dimaz Maulana, Dito Yuwono, Sandi Kalifadani, Simon Kentgens, and Mella Jaarsma.

The 2nd edition “900mdpl: Ghosts of a Thousand Conversations” was held in 2019 as an attempt to pinpoint the small village within the map of Indonesian history; presenting work by Paoletta Holst, Agung Kurniawan, Jomped Kuswidananto, Yudha Sandy, Arief Budiman, Lala Bohang, Rara Sekar, Mark Salvatus, Fyerool Darma, and returnee Maryanto.

The 3rd edition “900mdpl: Genealogy of Ghost and How To Live with Them” will look upon the relationship between folklore, ghost stories, and mythology with the current ecological issues and environmental sustainability of the area. It is a response to how the landscapes of Kaliurang and around Mt.Merapi are subjected to the whims of colonizers and capitalists through tourism, over-development, exploitation of the land and extraction of its natural resources. This extractive behavior is present even if Mt.Merapi is considered as one of the two most powerful mythical kingdoms in Yogyakarta, connected through an imaginary axis with the Sultanate of Yogyakarta and mythical Queendom of the Southern Sea. Around Mt.Merapi, the ontological knowledge of Javanese cosmology used to coexist with Islamic values, tradition rooted in Hinduism and animism as a situated heritage knowledge.

Provisionally titled “900mdpl: Genealogy of Ghost and How to Live with Them”, this edition aims to collect local beliefs, mythology, rituals, oral tradition, bedtime stories, and cautionary tales on how to behave around sacred sites that manifested as local wisdom. It will explore the decentralized polycentric knowledge that allows us to start learning back from the rooted local wisdom for ecological sustainability. The aim of this project is to stimulate and discuss the possibility of exercising folklore and mythology as a heritage knowledge of how to co-live with the non-human counterpart. It suggests not only about how to control nature but stresses the importance of maintaining an equal position of human and non-human alike.

The third edition of “900mdpl” was supposed to be held in 2021 and was postponed due to the pandemic and the rising activity/danger level of Mount Merapi. Following the cycle and adjusting to the movement of the stratovolcano, the project will be held in smaller continuous events to be presented in multiple sites at different times throughout the year of 2022.

“900mdpl: Genealogy of Ghost and How to Live with Them” will be consisting of a visual art exhibition centered around Mount Merapi; a socially engaged artistic proposition and interventions to promote a more sustainable approach to the daily reality in Kaliurang as a tourism area; a video festival; and a series of book launches to support the continuous process of archiving the space and extend the life of the project itself. The publication will consist of contributions from artists, writers, and academics that were produced during the three editions of “900mdpl”.

The final project presentation of all artists at scattered sites around Kaliurang where a wider audience will be guided on the exhibition walking route as a spatial practice — turning the site into a space of experience. The exhibition route is chosen based on the current topic as a way to connect the different ideas brought up by artists’ solo projects and research. At the end of every walking tour, the audience will be provided with the complete whole narratives of the project.

At the end of the final iteration, a movable non-permanent community museum is open for a limited time as a prototype of the Museum of Kaliurang Community (MUKKA). The collection of the museum is growing and being built by multidisciplinary artists together with the local community through conversation, storytelling, and oral tradition to foster transmission of transgenerational knowledge within the village. Previously, the prototype of the movable non-permanent museum has been presented as “Museum of a Thousand Conversations” in Kaliurang (2019) and New York (2020).

Artistic Director: LIR

LIR is an art institution turned curator collective consisting of Mira Asriningtyas and Dito Yuwono. LIR Space was initially established in 2011 as an art space in Yogyakarta – Indonesia with an aim to build a supportive and positive environment for artists. Over the years, the institutional format is perpetually renewed and recently LIR Space turned nomadic into LIR curator collective. Together they were a fellow of RAW Academie: CURA (RAW Material Company – Dakar, 2019). LIR’s projects are characterized by the multi-disciplinary collaboration and often-performative exhibition in order to foster continuous transgenerational transmission of knowledge, memory, and history. LIR’s recent project including “Curated by LIR” exhibition series (KKF – Yogyakarta, 2018 – 2019); “Transient Museum of a Thousand Conversations” (ISCP – New York, 2020); “900mdpl” (Kaliurang, 2017, 2019); “Festival Untuk Seorang Lelaki yang Demikian Mencintai Hujan” (Yogyakarta, 2021); and the 3rd iteration of “Pollination” (2020‐2021) initiated by The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre (Ho Chi Minh City). Titled “Of Hunters & Gatherers”, the project is composed of an exhibition, symposia and dedicated website in multiple sites, co‐hosted by MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum (Chiang Mai), Selasar Sunaryo Art Space (Bandung), The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre (Ho Chi Minh City), with the support of SAM Funds for Arts and Ecology (Indonesia) and The Gray Centre for Art & Inquiry (Chicago).

www.lirspace.net | www.ofhuntersandgatherers.com

Curator: Mira Asriningtyas

Mira Asriningtyas works as an independent curator and writer. She completed the De Appel Curatorial Program in 2017 (Amsterdam). In her curatorial practice, she is especially interested in working on site‐specific multidisciplinary projects within the practice of everyday life as a means to address socio‐political issues and history. She has curated exhibition and public programs off-sites and in art institutions such as De Appel Art Center (Amsterdam); Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam); Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo (Turin); KKF (Yogyakarta); ISCP (New York); MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum (Chiang Mai); among others. Her writings have been published in books, online publication, exhibition catalog, monograph, and magazine from Indonesia, The Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, and Australia.

www.miraasriningtyas.com