News & events > Grand Parade at the Tropenmuseum Amsterdam
31 Oct 2014 - 22 Mar 2015

Grand Parade at the Tropenmuseum Amsterdam

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Teaser-Jompet_0 The Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam has commissioned Grand Parade - a major art installation for its Great Hall - by the renowned Indonesian artist Jompet Kuswidananto.  It is on display until 22 March 2-15 and comprises groups of life size mechanical figures that come into action in a theatrical performance. View a unique art installation, specially made for the Tropenmuseum, by Jompet Kuswidananto, on display from 31 October. Jompet made his name with fascinating groups of life-size mechanical figures in the form of parades, which come into action like a real orchestra  at set times. For the first time he’s bringing together these parades in the Great Hall of the Tropenmuseum, thereby creating a new art installation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGNw7RiTTPY In his work he shows a constantly changing world and the way in which the identity of individuals and groups change with it. Dozens of human figures with drums and weapons, motorbikes and horses meet each other in the middle of the big square. This meeting produces a huge spectacle of light, sound and movement: drums begin to beat, hands start clapping and from the loudspeakers the sound of the revelry of a parade or the tumult of a demonstration can be heard. Artist and theatre maker Jompet Kuswidananto (born in 1976 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia) is a trendsetting innovator in Asia and is now up and coming in Europe. His work has been shown in the Taipei Biennales, National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne and the Global Temporary in ZKM Karlsruhe. In 2013 he won the Prins Claus Award with his theatre group Teater Garasi. Read about another project Jompet Kuswidananto has been involved in - The Instrument Builders Project has connected artists and musicians in Australia and Indonesia since 2013 in an experimental, interdisciplinary collaborative project. Instrument-Builders-Project-NGV-Invitation-610x430 The ‘Instrument Builders Project’ (IBP) is a collaboration between Australian and Indonesian artists and musicians in which the artists conceptualise, build, perform and exhibit new works together over the course of a shared residency. The IBP centres on an evolving ‘project space’, with elements of studio and gallery, open to the public throughout the duration of the project, with public programs (concerts, exhibitions, workshops and talks) punctuating periods of experimental ‘free time’.

The works created through the IBP span traditional craft-based and avant-garde forms and practises including experimental musical instruments, sound sculptures, installation, conceptual and instructional works, and live art.

Recently, NGV Studio in Melbourne hosted the first Australian iteration of The Instrument Builders Project (IBP), an experimental collaborative project between Australian and Indonesian artists and musicians curated by Kristi Monfries and Joel Stern. The first two iterations of the IBP were held in Yogyakarta in June 2013 and March 2014. The IBPsets up a shared workshop space, with elements of studio and gallery, in which artists conceptualise, build, perform and exhibit new works together over a period of 3 weeks, with scheduled public programs (concerts, exhibitions, workshops and talks) punctuating periods of experimental ‘free time’. The works created through the IBP draw on both traditional craft-based and avant-garde approaches and technologies, incorporating practises including (but not limited to) experimental music, sound sculpture, installation, conceptual and instructional work and performance art.