Unpacked No. 2: Political
Melati Suryodarmo performance lecture
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Image: Jason Lim – Melati Suryodarmo “A Feather Fell Down From the Silence”, 2011, Substation, Singapore.
Presented by Dancehouse and Asia TOPA, Arts Centre Melbourne
— Two performance lectures from Melati Suryodarmo: Unpacked No. 2: Political; and BORROW + Exergie – butter dance.
These performance lectures see Melati Suryodarmo revisit, illuminate and re-perform her extraordinary body of performances, exhibitions and installations. These lectures provide an insight into the work and process of one of the most celebrated performance artists of our time. They are for all to enjoy, whether you’re an artist, arts curious or looking to get up close and personal with our artists.
Unpacked No. 2: Political delves into the political dimensions and circumstances of Suryodarmo’s work. This performance lecture revisits performances from Suryodarmo’s archive including Visible Undone Behavior (2005), Feather Fell from Nowhere (2011) and The Seed (2008). Unpacked No. 2 is brought to life through a series of actions and provocations, prompting profound and visceral encounters with Suryodarmo’s body of work and somatic practice.
>> Save over 15% when you book both performance lectures by Melati Suryodarmo: Unpacked No. 2: Political; and BORROW + Exergie – butter dance
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Melati Suryodarmo (b. 1969, Solo, Indonesia) graduated from the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunscheweig, Germany. Her practice is informed by Japanese Butoh, dance and history, among others.
Her work is the result of ongoing research in the movements of the body and its relationship to the self and the world. These are translated into photography, dance choreography, video and live performances. Suryodarmo has presented her works in locations all over the world, including Kiasma, Helsinki, Finland; MMCA, Gwacheon, South Korea; National art Centre Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; Para Site, Hong Kong; QAGOMA, Australia; and Singapore Art Museum.
She has presented her choreographic pieces in various festivals, including at TPAM, BankArt, Yokohama (2016) Witch Dance Festival, Sophien Saele, Berlin (2016); Europalia Festival at KVS Brussels (2017); De Singel, Anwerp; Frankfurt LAB, Frankfurt (2015) and Indonesia Dance Festival, Jakarta Theatre, (2016). In 2019, she created Orfeus a dance piece based on Goenawan Mohamad’s poetry, performed at Salihara Jakarta. In December 2019, she directed and choreographed Opera Gandari, an opera composed by Tony Prabowo at Graha Bakti Budaya, Jakarta Art Centre, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta.
Since 2007, Suryodarmo has been organising PALA and Undisclosed Territory, both annual performance art festivals, in Solo, Indonesia. In 2012, she founded Studio Plesungan, an art space for performance artists. She was the Artistic Director of the Jakarta Biennale 2017, and since 2021 she has been working as Artistic Director of the Indonesia Bertutur, the art and culture festival presented by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia.
Presented by Dancehouse and Asia TOPA, Arts Centre Melbourne. With support from the Australian Government Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.
