Simply Nature x REX Box

Simply Mooi

Media is an effective tool to shape public opinion. For example, Soeharto, the second president of Indonesia (1967-1998), monopolized it to maintain his ‘New Order Regime’ [ind. Orde Baru]. Only after 1998, with his fall and emergence of private media, video and early internet technology allowed everyone to independently consume, interpret, and even produce information. In this context, Ok. Video started to create a universe of moving images and document it in a rich archive (ca. 992 artists and over 1300 works). In this universe, faced with the chaotic development in their (urban) landscape, humans fantasize about an exotic nature. This response could be a legacy of "Indie Mooi", a Dutch term for ‘Beautiful Indies’. Coined during the colonial era, this artistic style was utilised by the New Order regime as propaganda to maintain its hegemony. However, these ‘beautiful’ and exploitative (orientalist-colonialist) camera shots keep being reproduced until today. Reflecting on this background, the four videos that we selected by OK. Video are not just about aesthetic satisfaction but a way to open a critical debate about development and ecology. 

Ok. Video (Jakarta, Indonesia) are the curators for the July/August programme for the REX Box. For this screening, the Ok. Video team worked through its archive and previous collaborators to compose a screening that would respond to Videocity’s annual theme ‘Simply Nature’. OK. Video always addresses specific themes in each of its events, while also managing various programs involving production, documentation, research, archiving, workshops, and distribution of media art in Indonesia.

Artists: Syaiful Anwar, Ari Dina Krestiawan, Kathleen Malay, Anggun Priambodo.

Curated by Ok. Video (Gelar Soemantri, M Sigit Budi Santoso, Simon Danang Anggoro).

There will be no exhibition at the HKB Mediothek during the summer.