‘Pollination’ continues in 2020/2021 with the third edition, welcoming artists Maryanto (Yogyakarta) and Ruangsak Anuwatwimon (Bangkok), and curators LIR – Mira Asriningtyas and Dito Yuwono (Yogyakarta) – and Kittima Chareeprasit (Chiang Mai). This edition will comprise an exhibition (opening at MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum in Chiang Mai on 19 March, 2021); a symposia (occurring online on 28-30 May, 2021 co-hosted by The Factory in Ho Chi Minh City and Selasar Sunaryo Art Centre in Bandung); and a dedicated website (launching 28 May, 2021)
The two-person exhibition ‘The Hunters’ is the result of extensive collaborative research undertaken in the last 12 months beneath Mount Merapi, Yogyakarta, and along the river routes of the lower Mekong, on the borders between Thailand and Laos. Prompted by the artistic languages and methods of chosen artists Maryanto and Ruangsak, Pollination curators LIR and Kittima have curated ‘The Hunters’. Hosted by the MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum in Chiang Mai, both artists are creating new bodies of work, inspired by local folk-lore which share the lives of particular mythical ‘hunter’, comparing the ethos of their stories to our contemporary moment. Maryanto’s tent-like installations, composed of paintings in charcoal and earth, share local knowledge of living with respect for Nature and its spirits, concerned by the impact of illegal, corporate and government hunting of water and sand, beneath Mount Merapi (Maryanto’s home turf). Ruangsak’s varied installations beg acknowledgement of the many animals whose lives are jeopardized along the heavy damming of the Mekong, creating various diorama from their bones as monument to their spirits that once guarded this crucial waterway. Such projects are but the beginning of what will be presented, ultimately throwing into question the assumptions and illusions of resource and their landscape, critical of social reliance on instruments of science and technology, deeply aware of how their manipulation leads to ignorance, misinformation and greed.
The online symposia ‘The Gatherers’ will take place from 28 to 30 May 2021, co-hosted by The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre (Ho Chi Minh City) and Selasar Sunaryo Art Space (Bandung)
The webiste ‘www.ofhuntersandgatherers.com’ will launch 28 May, 2021, with additional sponsorship from the Gray Center of Art and Enquiry, University of Chicago
2020/2021 members:
Organizations: The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre, SAM Fund for Art and Ecology, MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum
Curatorial Advisors: Zoe Butt, Agung Hujatnikajennong and Vipash Purichanont
Participant curators: LIR – Mira Asriningtyas and Dito Yuwono; and Kittima Chareeprasit
Participant artists: Maryanto, Ruangsak Anuwatwimon