TEMPO.CO, Yogyakarta - Five artists and five researchers are holding an art exhibition named "Dobrak" (breakthrough) at the Cemeti Art House in Yogyakarta from July 7 to August 20. The exhibition is being held to commemorate Cemeti Art House’s 25th anniversary with Adeline Ooi and Mella Jaarsma as curators.

"The theme ‘Dobrak’ means breaking through tradition, dismantling presumptions, stereotypes," said Jaarsma during the opening ceremony of the event last Sunday night.

The creations on display for this exhibition are based on research in the fields of anthropology, culture, and social sciences. One masterpiece is a result of collaboration between an artist and a researcher.

"For six months they researched objects and came up with various ideas," added Jaarsma.

Participants of the exhibition include artist Ade Darmawan in collaboration with researcher Nuraini Juliastuti, Iswanto Hartono in collaboration with Aryo Danusiri, and among others, Leonardiansyah Allenda in collaboration with Pujo Semedi.

Iswanto and Aryo created an installation piece of a round spinning garden filled with flowers, fruit, a dog, and birds that chirp if a person snaps his or her fingers. The piece entitled ‘Kitmir’ portrays the phenomena of celebrating Prophet Mohammad in open spaces in Jakarta. This creation was a result of a research conducted by Aryo and Iswanto on Hadrami or Habib descendents. Aryo said that Kitmir explores the relationship between a master and his follower.

"Each religion contains moral values and loyalty," said Aryo.

Aryo and Iswanto conducted their research in Jakarta for a full year. The idea of a garden popped up because they imagined heaven. The piece also includes a voice sensor to catch the sound waves of snapping fingers to trigger the chirp of a bird.

As for Ade and Nuraini, they chose to tell a story about objects and events. Using items purchased at the Klitikan Market in Yogyakrta and flea markets in Jakarta, they created a masterpiece that looks like a small-scale model of a city consisting of toy trains, cars, and trees on top of a long table. They also included cut outs of newspaper articles containing various stories such as accidents.

SHINTA MAHARANI