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Asialink is pleased to announce the presentation of Ta Teut Amarasi – Awakening: contemporary textiles and prints based on the cultural traditions of Amarasi, West Timor and Tanah Merege (Black Land) at the 2008 Darwin Festival. This exhibition and performance result from artistic collaborations between artists in the Northern Territory and communities in Eastern Indonesia over a number of workshops conducted in Indonesia over the past two years.

Tanah Merege is a musical collaboration between one of Australia’s finest Indigenous music groups, Yilila, from the remote NT community of Numbulwar, and Sanggar Bliran Sina, a group of musicians from the village of Watublapi in Flores, Indonesia, whose intention is to bring the music and culture of their community to the world. Producer and musician, Tony Gray, along with indigenous musician/dancer Grant Nundhirribala, has spent significant time in Watublapi, assisting the sanggar in developing their music and in producing several CDs. The performance at the Darwin Festival represents the group’s international debut.

Tanah Merege (Black Land):

A musical performance featuring NT’s Yilila and Indonesia’s Sanggar Bliran Sina
8pm, Thursday 21 August, 2008
Star Shell, Botanic Gardens, Darwin
Artists’ forum: 12-1pm, Friday 22 August, NT Library, Parliament House, Darwin

In 2007 and 2008, Darwin artists, Winsome Jobling and Leon Stainer, travelled to Baun in West Timor to introduce fine art print and paper-making techniques to Sanggar Uim Nima, a local Indonesian weaving collective.  Local plant crops including grasses and banana trees were utilised for paper-making, while the community was taught print-making techniques including lino and woodcuts and copper engraving. Ta Teut Amarasi – Awakening is the result of these workshops, comprising a series of limited edition prints, which employ the motifs and imagery used in the sanggar’s textile work, exhibited along with a range of traditional textiles.

Ta Teut Amarasi – Awakening:

Contemporary textiles and prints based on the cultural traditions of Amarasi, West Timor
15 to 31 August, 2008
6-10 pm daily, Wesleyan Church, George Brown Botanic Gardens, Darwin
Opening celebration: 6.30pm Sunday 24 August
Artists’ forum: 5.30pm Monday 25 August, Wesleyan Church, George Brown Botanic Gardens, Darwin

print: Robert Koroh Kaun Tup Hitu 1 (Sleeping Snake) 2007, copper engraving on king grass paper 17 x 17cm Photo: Peter Eve

 
Both projects have been made possible through Asialink’s Eastern Indonesia – Northern Territory Partnership Program, a program that brings together arts practitioners currently working with and in remote communities to develop strategies to encourage the transmission of traditional culture to future generations. Through the program Asialink aims to foster the creation of regional, national and international networks and markets that will provide long-term support for the communities involved and promote confidence and pride in their artistic traditions.
 
Funded by The Ford Foundation, Jakarta and Arts NT, Asialink’s pilot Eastern Indonesia – Northern Territory Partnership Program has been produced in association with Yayasan Kelola, Yilila and Red Flag Dancers, Charles Darwin University, MAGNT, Nomad Art Productions and has been supported by the Consulate of the Republic of Indonesia, Darwin.
 
Asialink Arts’ pilot Eastern Indonesia - Northern Territory Partnership Program commenced in 2006.