After Museum, After History

Presented in Biennale Jogja 2023 Installation of fabric, ready-made object, and found objects

Museums and monuments are one of the primary mediums of indoctrination and fabrication of historical narrative. They are not just physical structures present in public spaces, but also accompanied with myths which deeply embodied within the subconscious, also shaping the memory and cultural landscape.

Since the fall of the New Order regime a quarter of a century ago, the relevance of historical narratives may begun to erode. Some museums and monuments have started to be neglected and left uncared. The regime’s narrative may have been worn down, but it is not entirely extinct. It has transformed into ghosts that wander within the core system and history, intangible but enfolding, past yet significantly gripping.

This work aims to display distortions regarding the (function of) museum and ‘historical’ objects by revealing the veiling or myths. We respond to one of the rooms in Monumen Bibis by rearranging and treating the collections in this mini-museum in a particular way. Through the appearance of these veilings, we visualize the vulnerability, obscurity, and distortion within the centralistic narrative of the regime which often glorifying certain parties.

Shifting the focus from the grandiose concept of nationalism about the 'homeland’ (tanah air), this installation attempts to surface a micro narrative about the land (tanah) and water (air) in Bangunjiwo, as the source of livelihood for the residents. The opening of the mini museum space that has been closed for the past few decades becomes a metaphor of the effort to reclaim the history writing, as well as an initial attempt to expose the small narratives which are often overshadowed by centralistic historical writing.