Arif Setiawan is a director, script writer, cum actor who resides in Pontianak. People often call him ‘Aib’. He actively works in theatre scene in Pontianak and serves as a tutor in Sanggar Teater Linka SMAN 1 Pontianak. Additionally, he is also a member of the committee in a theatre collective named Grup Jaya Abadi Makmur Bersama. He joined Parade Teater 2010 and actively contributed to Forum Masyarakat Teater Kalimantan Barat (West Kalimantan Theater Community Forum). The latest script he wrote, titled Spesies Terakhir di Muka Bumi (The Last Species on Earth), eliminates the borders that lie between stage, audience, and actors which resulted in an exciting interactive performance. That very performance encourages us to think about the gravity and severity of “sin”. It takes us to dilemmatic situations where our conscience and pragmatic realities are put at a crossroad.
Aib is one of the participants of Residensi Kelana Laut. He spent one month living in a fishing village in Pambusuang, Polewali Mandar, West Sulawesi. During the residency, he dug into the practice of Passauq Wai, which literally means Water Lifters. This is a practice conducted through generations, commonly by women. They take water from the Mandar River bank and contain it into dozens of jerrycans. Afterwards, they swim across the river as they pull the jerrycans of water which later will be sold or used for their own consumption. Hitherto, Passauq Wai serve as the “backbone” who primarily provide clean water for several areas in Mandar due to the lack of sufficient clean water infrastructures. For Biennale Jogja, Aib presents an installation and a performance depicting the practice of Passauq Wai done by the women of Mandar.
