Equator Symposium 2022: “Kuat Akar Kuat Tanah: Trans-National Solidarity and Trans-Local Movements”
The idea of trans-local and trans-historical was raised to make room for another history with a different spirit. the same, even though it is in a Region outside the global south. Experience during the First Round of BJE shows how important it is to maintain local beliefs and knowledge, skills based on a philosophy of nature and life, and the sovereignty of indigenous peoples. In the Global South Region, `where people still live in a communal spirit and a spirituality that represents closeness to nature, there are many life principles that are worth learning about. BJE through the concept of translocal seeks to connect knowledge in one locality with other localities, art, and cultural systems based on specific customary situations, as well as an articulation of knowledge that is more rooted in local languages.
Kuat Akar Kuat Tanah becomes a metaphor to show trans-national solidarity and trans-local movements as a basis for collaborative work by artists, culture, and activists from the Global South. By tracing grassroots movements in various regions of the archipelago that are diverse and have specific contexts, this symposium seeks to connect different practices and forms of movement to one another to become spaces for sharing and imagining the future of a new world. Awareness of the importance of building local knowledge networks to expand roots will strengthen the ground above, becoming a stronger collective.
Trans-national(ity) becomes a way to connect local movements across national and regional boundaries, where their post-colonial situation becomes a strategy to achieve equality.
The Equator Symposium Formulating Team 2022 :
- Alia Swastika (@alia.swastika)
Alia graduated from the Gadjah Mada University Department of Communication. Since 2008 he has been curator and Program Director at Ark Galerie, Jakarta/Yogyakarta. Now he works as the Director of the Yogyakarta Biennale Foundation. Apart from doing curatorial work, he actively publishes articles in various newspapers, magazines, journals, and books both at home and abroad. - Dr. Mitha Budhyarto (@mithabudhy)
Mitha is a lecturer at Lasalle College of the Arts Singapore, where she teaches Cultural Studies at the Faculty of Design. Research conducted by Mitha has been published and presented in various international academic journals and conferences. As a researcher and curator, Mitha has also received grants from national and international institutions. - Irham Nur Anshari (@irhamans)
Irham is a teaching staff at the Department of Communication Studies at Gadjah Mada University and a supervisor for the UGM Fine Arts Unit (USER). Teaching several subjects such as visual communication, photography, film studies, cyberculture, and developing new subjects: media and contemporary art. Irham is also one of the authors of the book series Pusaka Seni Rupa (2017), editor of the Biennale Jogja book/catalog (since 2015), and programmer of the Equator Symposium (2020). - Ben KC Laksana (@benlaksana)
Ben is a doctoral student at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, with a research focus on the intersections of sociology, education, and youth. He works as a researcher and educator with more than 8 years of experience and has worked with various local and international organizations. He is also one of the founders and mentors of the Arkademy project, an organization that focuses on critical education by actively and critically involving the public in understanding social issues through the use of the medium of photography.