Created for Amnesty International's Individuals at Risk Campaign. Shown at Artillery Festival, Brisbane, 9th December, 2011 at Jugglers. Re-edited and uploaded for Ben City because Amnesty did not publish my info sheet and muted my Video.
Exposing past political struggles and acknowledging human rights violations is important, even in contemporary art. Speak out in your own way.
Based on observations and research during my 5 month stay in Indonesia with Pramoedya Ananta Toer's books 'Buru Quartet' and Ahmad Tohari's 'The Dancer.' The atrocities of colonialism, the anti-communist purge and the stature of women are seldom mentioned in Indonesia. This work honors the act of speaking out, whilst critically and contemporarily engaging with the opinions of the public.
My video reflects on the ability to remember the history of a nation through the ritual of a wedding in current times. From 1898 and 1965 in Indonesia, political prisoners were kept as symptoms of 1) colonial suppression of race, 2) post-colonial suppression of artists and a 3) derogatory status of women. In our 2011 multi- racial wedding of artists, we see no suppression of race, no suppression of artists and a somewhat evolving status for women.
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