Artists Statement
Live-link video-installation environment and 20′ performance
Parramatta Riverside and Alun Alun Kidul, Yogjakarta – 14th & 15th June 2013, College of Fine Arts and Alun Alun Kidul, Yogjakarta – 16th June 2013
Feeling peckish – and chatty? This intimate exchange between cultures and cities dishes up a live fusion of food, film and dance between Australia and Indonesia. A fleet of ‘gerobaks’ – traditional Indonesian food carts – is linked between Sydney and Yogyakarta (Central Java) through multi-channel video streaming, alongside in-cart video art and a multimedia dance environment. Exploring qualities of openness and connection, Grobak Padi centres upon a mode of relating that is open to life, to things both being themselves and belonging together. The gerobaks are the life-blood of Jogja’s streets, while images of the padi, or rice field, come to evoke a sense of gratitude, for appreciating the abundance we already have. Don’t miss this chance to share a meal, and more, with our closest neighbours!
Created by Michael Hornblow, Tony Yap and Agung Gunawan. Hornblow, Gunawan and Yap have been working together since 2008.
Choreographed and performed by Tony Yap and Agung Gunawan
Creative Director, Producer and Video Installation Artist: Michael Hornblow
Video Streaming Producer: Martin Renaud
Production Manager: Michelle O’Brien
Technical Director: Ian Andrews
Community Liaison and Online Media: Rully Zakariah
Indonesian Production Managers: Bimo Suryojati and Altiyanto Henryawan
Cooks: the Indonesian communities of Sydney and Yogyakarta
Produced and presented by 5 Foot Way, ISEA2013, Parramatta City Council, Metro Screen and Multicultural Arts Victoria
agunggunawan.com
tonyyapcompany.com
- Melbourne-based Michael Hornblow (Australia/New Zealand), works across video, performance, art and design to explore affective relations within and between the image, the body and the constructed environment. He recently completed practice-based doctoral research in the Spatial Information Architecture Laboratary at RMIT, and has produced film/video, installation and performance works in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe and Africa.
- Agung Gunawan is a Javanese (Indonesia) dancer and choreographer trained in several Indonesian classical dance forms. He performs at the Kraton (Palace) in Yogjakarta and is assistant choreographer of Miroto Dance Company. He has toured in Holland, Belgium, Germany and the USA as well as Indonesia, and has been a resident dance teacher, choreographer and performer in Bucharest, Romania. He is active in contemporary Indonesian music, and recently worked as assistant choreographer on the movie Opera Jawa.
- Tony Yap (Australia/Malaysia) is a dancer and choreographer, the Creative Director of Melaka Art and Performance Festival, and Artistic Director of Tony Yap Company. He is committed to the exploration and creation of an individual dance theatre language that is informed by psycho-physical research, Asian trance dance and Butoh. Yap has collaborated with many companies and individuals worldwide, and has received various fellowships, awards and grants.
Supported by Parramatta City Council, Metro Screen, Multicultural Arts Victoria, the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia, the Australia-Indonesia Institute, Performance Klub (Yogjakarta), CAKE Productions, Melbourne Festival and the Playking Foundation.