Maryanto: 9000MDPL, Hantu-Hantu Seribu Percakapan (Ghosts of a Thousand Conversations)

2019年10月18日

900mdpl

900mdpl is an extensive site-specific art project in Kaliurang, a village on the southern slope of Merapi—one of the most active volcano in Indonesia. The village was a station hill for Dutch geologists’ to closely monitor the volcanic activity during colonial period. In 1923, it continues to be a popular resort area due to its milder temperature and relish its heyday until the end of the New Order era. Located 7 km away from the crater with average altitude of 900 meters above the sea, around 2800 inhabitants today are living in an immediate vicinity with the active volcano. 
 

Maryanto | "Rukun Tresna" (Harmonious and Affectionate)

In November 2000, a non-governmental organization held an event against HIV/AIDS for gay and transgender community in Wisma Astorenggo. By midnight, a group of radical organization from outside Kaliurang attacked the event, leaving more than 200 people attending the event traumatized and the hotel facility broken. The hate-induced violence has never been legally solved until today and the hotel soon turn into a ruin—a monument of repression and horizontal clash between organizations. For this site, Maryanto create an open call, asking the people of Kaliurang to submit their local community/ collective/ organization info before turning the submission into community flag. From the submission, he received around 70 communities from the 30s to the present day; ranging from sport to cultural group, hobbyist, music band, and cooperation. The flags are being displayed around the ruin, recuperating the memory of the site using a collage of Kaliurang as one big community consisting of several smaller communities, sending messages of tolerance and togetherness. The title of the work was taken from the name of the oldest community recorded: IRIT (Iyo Rukun, Iyo Tresno) that was active in the 40s/50s as a place for younger people in Kaliurang to express themselves creatively, peacefully, and harmoniously.

 
Site #03: Ruins of Wisma Astorenggo

Jl.Astorenggo – Kaliurang