The spectres of choreography in the context of this archive exhibition has nothing to do with the astral concept where psychic phenomena take place. The spectres here, in contrast, is closely related to the history of materialism concept, where various cultural and artistic dance practices are formed.
Takusai by Hartati
Doc. Archive IDF 1992
This exhibition archive is put together to mark and get to know the spectres of choreography that shadowed our past dance practices, ones that we inherit today.
IDF’s archive, which has been compiled over 30 years, record different dance practices from the country and overseas that have been performed in this festival. IDF’s 30 years of existence, which has played a role in the development of dance ecosystem through the festivals and other education programs, has made it seen as one of the important Indonesian dance festivals with international scale. It also has an impact in the aesthetic direction of Indonesia’s contemporary dance. However, IDF was not born out of thin or, nor did it grow as a fully autonomic artistic power, because it was initiated and developed from the exchanges and encounters among different values and interests within the cultural sphere.
Gandrung Salathun by Dedy Luthan
Doc. Archive IDF 1992
This archive exhibition offers a perspective to see IDF beyond its role as a supporter in dance work productions, dance events, or the Indonesian contemporary dance market, but as a discourse site where we get to understand parts of Indonesian dance history, in its relations with the dynamics beyond the local dance scene that affects it. Through this perspective, IDF’s position as a force that shapes dance system will be shifted to the dance system component that is partly choreographed by the socio-political dynamics that surround it. Instead of presenting IDF’s 30-year journey in chronological order, this exhibition marks the epiphanies that have turned into key episodes in the festival’s aesthetic vision, which is connected to the dance scene dynamic, the economic, political, and cultural situation on the national, regional, and global level, as well as the digital communications technology development. Besides, we can also see the aesthetic inclinations that appear around those key episodes. Through the critical sense, we recognize the choreography spectres that shadow the dance practices inherited to us today. Perhaps, we will also start to recognize those choreography spectres in daily life, in which we continuously fight for justice, rule over, define identity, and discipline our bodies.
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