Naima Morelli

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dolorosasinaga

My interview with Indonesian sculptor and artist Dolorosa Sinaga has just been published on the Italian magazine Art a Part of Cult(ure) with the title “Freedom is the foundation for everything”. In the interview we discuss political activism during the dictatorship, Jakarta vs London and the followers of… Doloism!

Here’s the link to the article

Dolorosa Sinaga’s interview has been my second in Jakarta for my infamous reportage about contemporary art in Indonesia which is now… guess what? A book! In Italian. Which you can purchase here.

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photostory
The summer of 2012 is not a long time ago , but from my perspective and for all I have experienced in this two years it feels like decades ago. Back then I just graduated from the Art Academy with a thesis on the “Popolo” in the arts and, at the beginning of the year I started to became intrigued by Indonesian art thanks to the exhibition “Beyond the Est” at MACRO, curated by Dominique Lora. I began researching about contemporary art in Indonesia and in a few weeks I was a regular visitor of the Castro Pretorio library in Rome. I would go there every week sourcing and memorizing everything I could find related to art in Indonesia and South East Asia. I would fill notebooks on notebooks and start planning to go to Indonesia. At that time my partner in crime Lucas Catalano was eager to go back to Bali to work on a photoessay and he offered me his help with the project.
I mailed Barbara from Art a Part of Cult(ure), the magazine I was writing for from three years, asking if she would be interested in a reportage of the art scene in Indonesia. She said yes, of course! I started sending emails around to the artists and fix interviews. Once in Indonesia, everyone was super nice, open and welcoming. Every interview gave me not only fundamental insights into the art practice of the artist and his context, but it was also really good fun! Here some pictures that give you some glimpses of the field-research that I did for my upcoming book “Arte Contemporanea in Indonesia”. There are no captions; let the images do the talk! Then of course, if you are already accustomed to the arts in Indonesia you will certainly recognize all the faces. (And of course, don’t miss the updates for the release “Arte Contemporanea in Indonesia”)

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I have been talking about my so-called “Indonesian book” for such a long time. My profile description at Trouble magazine reads: “she’s currently working on a book about contemporary art in Indonesia that will be published in Italy the near future”. Well, the near future is finally here. My book “Arte Contemporanea in Indonesia – un’introduzione” will finally be published and presented in Rome during a series of exhibition focused on South-East Asia and Australia called “AU.SIAN”, that I will curated with my collegue Roberto D’Onorio at the gallery Parioli Fotografia.

I look at this book as a step in the process of connecting different cultures via contemporary art and people’s stories around contemporary art. Thus the decision to link this book to the wider program of AU.SIAN. I’ll give you guys all the details of the November/December release pretty soon!

“Arte Contemporanea in Indonesia ” is an introduction to contemporary art in Indonesia and looks at how the cultural, social and political conditions in Indonesia have influenced four generations of artists. Through this book I didn’t just learn about art in Indonesia, but I also reconsidered my idea of contemporary art. I started became more and more aware of the context that surrounds contemporary art. I went around asking questions, rather then just see a show, come home and write my thoughts about it. I still consider myself an art critic, but I don’t want to criticize anymore. I want to understand and let people understand what’s behind every human expression. I’m convinced that by giving background coordinates, readers could see beyond the pretty picture. One of the aim of this book is also challenging the outdated western hegemony on contemporary art, a point of view that is still prevalent in Italy.

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I fiori del male si studiano nelle scuole.
Si studia quanto scandalo suscitò il volumetto di poesie alla sua uscita e quanto erano provocatori gli argomenti proposti, mentre contemporaneamente gli alunni nell’aula sbadigliano, perché sono in un banco, perché una professoressa gli sta spiegando un poeta, già bello e crepato tra l’altro, ma in fin dei conti poco importa questo, non è che si interessino ad Umberto Eco solo perché è vivente, forse alle ultime vicissitudini musicali dell’idolo tv Marco Carta, ecco, quello forse si, oppure all’uscita imminente dell’ultima versione di GTA, il nuovo fortissimo videogioco, o magari, volendo proprio tirare in ballo la letteratura, il nuovo libro di Moccia, che quello si che ci fa sognare, altro che Baudelaire!

Va bene, ok, non tutti i GGGiovani sono così, quindi se voi che leggete siete dei ragazzi e vi siete sentiti offesi, rallegratevi! La vostra virtuosità nel soffermarvi su letture più edificanti risalterà più fulgida che mai per contrasto. Resta il fatto che seppure voi non vi considerate così, la maggior parte dei vostri coetanei lo è, e infatti tutti in quella classe, tranne forse chi era in bagno quando la professoressa di francese scriveva lo schemino alla lavagna (semmai lui si farà prestare il quaderno dall’amico) tutti quanti ricopieranno lo schema, trascrivendo tutte quelle parole chiave che gli faranno ricordare la poetica dell’autore: Scandalizzare Il Borghese, Provocare La Società, Poeta Maledetto, poi a casa a imparare sistematicamente la lezione, il giorno dopo essere interrogati e basta, la prossima settimana tocca a Rimbaud.
Così è transitato Baudelaire per il cervello di un adolescente, così ne è fuoriuscito, ed è già tanto se da grande, quando il poeta gli verrà nominato da qualcuno che ne sa meno di lui, potrà dire, se colto da un sussulto di sincerità “ah si…lo studiai ai tempi del Liceo…”, più probabilmente si limiterà ad annuire.

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