900mdpl is a biennale site-specific project in Kaliurang – Yogyakarta. Kaliurang is an aging historical resort village 7 km away from the caldera of Mount Merapi, one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia. Kaliurang is located on an average altitude of 900 meters above the sea (in Indonesian: 900mdpl) and around 2800 inhabitants of Kaliurang today are living in an immediate vicinity with the active stratovolcano.
With awareness of the unstable force of nature and how the ground is continuously moving beneath us; the “900mdpl” project proposes a possibility to create a growing socially-engaged archive of the village and to preserve the collective memories of the people. The “900mdpl” project brings together local and international artists for a research residency and production of a new work.
The 1st edition of “900mdpl” was held in 2017 as a ‘family portrait’ of the community and the neighborhood; presenting works by Anggun Priambodo, Maryanto, Edita Atmaja, Eva Olthof, Dimaz Maulana, Dito Yuwono, Sandi Kalifadani, Simon Kentgens, and Mella Jaarsma.
The 2nd edition “900mdpl: Ghosts of a Thousand Conversations” was held in 2019 as an attempt to pinpoint the small village within the map of Indonesian history; presenting work by Paoletta Holst, Agung Kurniawan, Jomped Kuswidananto, Yudha Sandy, Arief Budiman, Lala Bohang, Rara Sekar, Mark Salvatus, Fyerool Darma, and returnee Maryanto.
The 3rd edition “900mdpl: Genealogy of Ghost and How To Live with Them” looked upon the relationship between folklore, ghost stories, and mythology with the current ecological issues and environmental sustainability of the area. It was held in two cycles in 2022 to explore the decentralized polycentric knowledge that allows us to start learning back from the rooted local wisdom for ecological sustainability; presenting work by Nindityo Adipurnomo, Fitri DK, Rahmat Affandi, Wimo Ambala Bayang, Arum Dayu and Jim Allen Abel, Ibnu Bani Harli, Ahmad Barokah, Sutarman, Nurhasan Hawari, Suwarto, Merapi Siring Kidul, returnee: Jomped Kuswidananto, Mark Salvatus, Maryanto, Eva Olthof, Mella Jaarsma, and Dito Yuwono.
At the end of the final iteration, a movable non-permanent community museum is open for a limited time as a prototype of the Museum of Kaliurang Community (MUKKA). The collection of the museum is growing and being built by multidisciplinary artists together with the local community through conversation, storytelling, and oral tradition to foster transmission of transgenerational knowledge within the village. Previously, the prototype of the movable non-permanent museum has been presented as “Museum of a Thousand Conversations” in Kaliurang (2019), New York (2020), IFI Yogyakarta (2022) and Taipei (2023).
Artistic Director: LIR
LIR is an art institution turned curator collective consisting of Mira Asriningtyas and Dito Yuwono. LIR Space was initially established in 2011 as an art space in Yogyakarta – Indonesia with an aim to build a supportive and positive environment for artists. Over the years, the institutional format is perpetually renewed and recently LIR Space turned nomadic into LIR curator collective. Together they were a fellow of RAW Academie: CURA (RAW Material Company – Dakar, 2019). LIR’s projects are characterized by the multi-disciplinary collaboration and often-performative exhibition in order to foster continuous transgenerational transmission of knowledge, memory, and history. LIR’s recent project including “Curated by LIR” exhibition series (KKF – Yogyakarta, 2018 – 2019); “Transient Museum of a Thousand Conversations” (ISCP – New York, 2020); “900mdpl” (Kaliurang, 2017, 2019); “Festival Untuk Seorang Lelaki yang Demikian Mencintai Hujan” (Yogyakarta, 2021); and the 3rd iteration of “Pollination” (2020‐2021) initiated by The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre (Ho Chi Minh City). Titled “Of Hunters & Gatherers”, the project is composed of an exhibition, symposia and dedicated website in multiple sites, co‐hosted by MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum (Chiang Mai), Selasar Sunaryo Art Space (Bandung), The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre (Ho Chi Minh City), with the support of SAM Funds for Arts and Ecology (Indonesia) and The Gray Centre for Art & Inquiry (Chicago).
www.lirspace.net | www.ofhuntersandgatherers.com
Curator: Mira Asriningtyas
Mira Asriningtyas works as an independent curator and writer. She completed the De Appel Curatorial Program in 2017 (Amsterdam). In her curatorial practice, she is especially interested in working on site‐specific multidisciplinary projects within the practice of everyday life as a means to address socio‐political issues and history. She has curated exhibition and public programs off-sites and in art institutions such as De Appel Art Center (Amsterdam); Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam); Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo (Turin); KKF (Yogyakarta); ISCP (New York); MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum (Chiang Mai); among others. Her writings have been published in books, online publication, exhibition catalog, monograph, and magazine from Indonesia, The Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, and Australia.
The whole project will be presented online through this growing website. Please check our Instagram account for the latest update on the project, here.