A curator friend named Sita Magfira invited me and several other artists to exhibit at Kedai Kebun Forum in August. August 17, 1945 was Indonesia’s independence day, and we then agreed to create an exhibition related to the theme of independence or freedom. At that time I was interested in responding to the text of the proclamation of independence that was made and then read by Ir Soekarno, as the Statement of Indonesia as an independent and sovereign country. I then stopped at the question, ‘How do Indonesian people today see independence or freedom?’
Starting from the archive of the text of the proclamation of independence, then I divided the text, broke it down into words, which I then printed and made into key chains. So when the exhibition opened, I was in front of my work, asking the visitors to the exhibition who came. Would they like to exchange the key chains they used, and also write one word that represents independence or freedom according to them. After the exchange of goods and information, I then displayed new words and key chains on the gallery wall that had been prepared. Maybe this is one way of seeing our freedom today, freedom without the need to take up arms, without the need for forced labor, or being oppressed by colonial invaders.
interactive installation, 2015
