What if a tiger trespassing into a human settlement is not merely an animal that has lost its habitat, but an ancestor arriving to engage us in conversation?

Tetuha Halimawong grows from a myth inherited by Ahmad Susantri in Lampung about ancestral spirits taking the form of tigers, believed to watch over the forest. Their presence connects humans with animals, ancestors, sacred territories, and the forest, while also shaping an ethic of living in relationship with the environment.

Today, that relationship is shifting. Deforestation, the expansion of illegal coffee plantations, and settlements are reducing the habitat of the Sumatran tiger in West Lampung. As local knowledge and beliefs gradually erode, encounters between humans and tigers increasingly turn into conflict.

Susan summons the ancestor back into the body and the contemporary imagination. Yet Tetuha appears not as a majestic, frozen mythological figure, but as a pink, playful, adorable, humorous, and talkative tiger.

Through movement, conversation, humor, and a “PARTYsipatory” approach—a play on words combining “party” and “participation”—Susan facilitates a fluid encounter between the performer, the audience, and the world of Tetuha. As a contemporary mystical fable, Tetuha Halimawong sets the myth in motion once more, inviting us to reimagine the relationship between humans, the forest, and other forms of life, as well as the possibility of renewed coexistence.

The development of Tetuha Halimawong’s work and producing practice was made possible through a collaboration between Reka Kelola: Creative Producing Lab 2026 and Indonesian Dance Festival: KAMPANA 2026.

Credit:
Choreographer : Ahmad Susantri
Performers : Ahmad Susantri, Silvia Dewi Marthaningrum
Composer : Edithya Rio Wirawan
Lighting Designer : Sulhan Jamil
Producer : Nabilla Kurnia Adzan

Venue: Ruang C, Institut Kesenian Jakarta