PROFILE
Rama Saputra or Ramaputratantra is a musician, artist, and cultural producer lives between Indonesia and Taiwan. Through site-specific interventions, performances, and installations, he integrates his work with experimentation of sound and/or musical expression, along with its interdisciplinary possibilities, to attempt to reshape sensitivity in the diversity. He observes 'Synthdentity' (synthesis and identity), the phenomena of power, and culture and technology commodification in postcolonialism, which can affect particular urban and environmental issues. Alongside his practice, he is also one of the founders of the artist collective; sound/music/dance performance project Sundialll (TW/ID), Band GAUNG (ID), free improvisational music fetival Sontak (ID), Tradisi Records (ID), and Threshold program with Goethe-Institut Bandung for exploratory works with a focus on the musician’s process and research.
HIGHLIGHT
He has presented his works at various events and institutions, including the Taipei Biennial 2023 Music Program: Hostbuster and Sundialll Hub; Reshaping the Ceremony Behind the Vibration))), at TFAM (Taipei Fine Art Museum), Taipei TW (2024). Al-Balad residency and exhibition by Ministry of Culture and Hafez Gallery, Jeddah KSA (2022-2023). Pekan Kebudayaan Nasional: Merawat Bumi Merawat Kebudayaan, with Noirlab collective, at Indonesia National Gallery, Jakarta ID (2023). Intra-chromatic by Sacred Bridge Foundation at Indonesia National Museum, Jakarta ID (2023). A Fly Enters. Immense Breath of the SEA by Open Contemporary Art Center, Taipei TW (2022). Curatorial Currents From The South-East: From Bandung to Jakarta at Gallery Soemardja, Bandung ID (2022).
Rama Saputra or Ramaputratantra is a musician, artist, and cultural producer lives between Indonesia and Taiwan. Through site-specific interventions, performances, and installations, he integrates his work with experimentation of sound and/or musical expression, along with its interdisciplinary possibilities, to attempt to reshape sensitivity in the diversity. He observes 'Synthdentity' (synthesis and identity), the phenomena of power, and culture and technology commodification in postcolonialism, which can affect particular urban and environmental issues. Alongside his practice, he is also one of the founders of the artist collective; sound/music/dance performance project Sundialll (TW/ID), Band GAUNG (ID), free improvisational music fetival Sontak (ID), Tradisi Records (ID), and Threshold program with Goethe-Institut Bandung for exploratory works with a focus on the musician’s process and research.
HIGHLIGHT
He has presented his works at various events and institutions, including the Taipei Biennial 2023 Music Program: Hostbuster and Sundialll Hub; Reshaping the Ceremony Behind the Vibration))), at TFAM (Taipei Fine Art Museum), Taipei TW (2024). Al-Balad residency and exhibition by Ministry of Culture and Hafez Gallery, Jeddah KSA (2022-2023). Pekan Kebudayaan Nasional: Merawat Bumi Merawat Kebudayaan, with Noirlab collective, at Indonesia National Gallery, Jakarta ID (2023). Intra-chromatic by Sacred Bridge Foundation at Indonesia National Museum, Jakarta ID (2023). A Fly Enters. Immense Breath of the SEA by Open Contemporary Art Center, Taipei TW (2022). Curatorial Currents From The South-East: From Bandung to Jakarta at Gallery Soemardja, Bandung ID (2022).
SELECTED WORKS
Sundialll HUB: Reshaping the Ceremony Behind the Vibration))) - 2024 January 27th, Rama with Alica Han Producing three (3) hour showcase presentation and collaborative performing at Taipei Fine Art Museum (TFAM), 'Sundialll HUB', intimate speculative ceremony that celebrates the different identities of people from different places who gather beyond borders. Created from the remnants of memories and experiences after life experienced a shift and phase of change. A story of different vibrations resonating with each other in mysterious ways. To illustrate the solemnity of responding to each other, they invited dancers/gesture performers AoAo, Ouro/Quan, and Naau/Qian Wang, Taiwan traditional/Aerophone musician 陳泓宇/Hong-Yu-Chen (Aerophone), and drummer/improviser from New York who exploring the Beiguan traditional music percussions Dutchgerm/Timothy DeWit. Presented by Chen Wei-Lung of Suck Glue Boys (TW) and Wok The Rock, Julian Abraham 'Togar' of Hostbuster. January 20th performing at ‘A Fly Enters. Immense Breath of the SEA. A Pack of Mice Breaks. Fearless Journey in the JUNGLE’ presented by Taipei-based Open Contemporary Art Center (OCAC) and Lacking Sound Fest (LSF).
MOJO - Through performance cinema, Noirlab collective and Yoga Saputra visualize Rama Saputra's musical dramaturgical work based on research and exploration of 'Synthdentity' (synthesis and identity) in Tulungagung village, East Java, the result of a workshop with performer/fashion designer Alica Han, speaker Yayak Priasmara, dancer Nila Nitikala, and displayed in applied arts by the Noirlab collective (Raka Ibnu, Rosmara Diana, and Iriyanto), and Gulung Tukar as post-producer and archivist. The group's work resulting from this residency is exhibited at the National Gallery of Indonesia GALNAS (October 2023). Attempt to answer the curatorial challenges of National Cultural Week (PKN) 2023, namely the art strategy for economic sustainability.
Mangabi Echo - Rama Saputra split the audiovisual into two piece, Mangabi Echo and Breathing Stone. Jeddah Al-Balad ancient buildings are made from special coral limestone extracted from the Red Sea called “Al-Mangabi Stones”. Sound investigation in inspires him to reimagine the legacy of being resilient in the midst of change. Rama Saputra experimented with electronic instruments to collaborate with traditional Hejazi musicians, visual artists, wood crafters of Islamic art, and Tunisian singers in the series of workshops. He makes rhythms from his observation of geometric patterns and synthesizes the ambiance and voices of the Al-Balad community. He also captures the vernacular images of architecture and festival activity, to convert them into audio-generated video and spectrogram texture, which represents the Red Sea. The Brown-Blue-Green color represents Al-Balad vernacular architecture; blue for the high, green for the middle, and brown for the low-frequency sounds. Mangabi Echo's composition features Hamed and Hani's Qanun and Oud instrument performance, Breathing Stone features Maisha Shaldan's installation work, and Souha Chaouachisa's poetry reading of Persian mystic and poet Mansur Al Hallaj. Program of Jeddah-based Hafez Gallery and Ministry of Culture of Saudi Arabia, February 2023.
CH4 - The snippet above is an excerpt from a short documentary film entitled CH4 (another name for methane gas which comes from long-buried waste). This work contains a re-reading of environmental disaster archives, an investigation into the waste landfill in Bandung, and the cycle of consumerism of city residents which has an impact on the city environment. Starting from the landfill disaster in Bandung in 2005 (called Bandung City of Garbage), until 2023. Collaborating with film director Nurisa Trimi, for UNPAS (Pasundan University). Film produced, directed, written, recorded by Nurisa Trimi Film co-produced, sound recorded, music composed by Rama Saputra Film supported by Artemis House (November 2022).
Transit - This work is initiated by artist/mechanic Salem Ahwari (KSA) to respond to the reflection of the phenomenon of migrant workers in a diverse city, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He invited his artist friends who came from countries with a large majority of migrant workers in Jeddah, Indonesia-based artist Rama Saputra, to collaborate by reinterpreting his work for Hafez Gallery Jeddah. Rama Saputra responded to the motion image of workers' gloves made by Salem, with a composition of the sounds of mechanical workers and workshop soundscapes taken in several places. Migrations throughout history have yielded social, economy, and cultural benefits, one of the reasons for the development of societies and the integration of civilizations and cultures. Some have the opposite point of view, as it is about reducing the level of unemployment. In the country from which they immigrated, justifying their opinion that immigration is a helpful factor in alleviating the problem of unemployment, not pay attention to the fact that the talents who immigrate are often those that the country needs, and they are not the cause of unemployment. This work is owned by Salem Ahwari, Site-specific audio recorded and music is composed by Rama Saputra, Photography by Abeer Abdulaziz, Discussion and translation by Nahla Khogeer, also valuable input from Maisa Shaldan.
|
A Novel Colony - Music and audiovisual work of Rama with filmmaker Robby Octavian, in the exhibition Extended Asia Vol. 3 'Discovery'. This work is a description of the dynamics and interpretation of migration discourse in the decentralization of Indonesian society from the island of Java to Kalimantan, through several migration archives from the New Order era to the present. Based on Robby's journey on a migration ship, Rama designs raw electrical signals from an analog fm synthesizer to emulate radio signals, ship journeys, and the scale synthesis of traditional Borneo wind instruments (November 2022). Link teaser A Novel Colony
Grasp & Dissolve, Omnipresent - Collaborative music/audiovisual work of Alica Han and Rama Saputra. This work intends to examine the identity and intimacy during the distance, through the long-distance communication of experience and knowledge sharing, performance, and visual archives exploration. Profiteer the program curatorial notes 'like our intimidating yet intimate relationship with files and the sea as the metaphysical border. This liminal space could be seen as holes of history and memory, a wandering space for the lost soul, and a backdrop that has always been around but never noticed. In distance, they learn to understand each other and learn from gaps and spaces. Accompanied only by their shadow selves, they reimagine the music, follow the sounds and voices, preserve the contrast between the quiet environment, interpret the heart of the city that has stopped beating, enjoy the procession of mystical music in the village's spiritual traditions (Burning Boat ceremony), crisp of dry leaves in the graves, and performing in abandoned caves and buildings for echoes. 'A Fly Enters. Immense Breath of the SEA residency is curated and facilitated by OCAC (Open Contemporary Art Center) Taipei. Website link: A Fly Enters
Emergency Room - Interdisciplinary workshop and performance for responding site-specific area at Miaoli, by artist collective Potestas (Miaoli, Taiwan 2023)
NASC Non-Aligned Sonic Cooperation - Exhibition of curatorial response for AA-GYM (Asia-Africa Gymnasium), as the result of the workshop 'Curatorial Currents from the South-East'. Project of Goethe-Institut Bandung, Institut Teknologi Bandung, National Gallery of Singapore and Museum Konferensi Asia Afrika. In conjunction with AESCIART 2022 International Conference ‘The Makings of Art from Southeast Asia and the Problems of Colonial Legacies’. The curatorial exhibition aims to examine contemporary music practice and the ecosystem during the pandemic, by inviting writers, curators, and musicians from Bandung, Egypt, and Nigeria, that are genuine, and have an awareness of post-colonial music, Kimung (Bandung historian/writer/musician), Sada Malumfashi (Nigerian writer/curator), Xin Lie (Bandung DJ/Producer), Mosleh (Egypt musician). Poster design by Meltgods. Preview: NASC for Curatorial Currents from the South-East: Jakarta to Bandung.
Anti Industrial Industrial Sound - Rama Saputra exhibition for BNE Bandung New Emergence, at Selasar Soenaryo gallery, curated by Bob Edrian, Bandung, Indonesia 2017. The audio installation is a speculation result of investigating the dynamic of extractive industry activity at Jatayu Bandung, a sound installation on every rung of the ladder that resembles the hierarchy and types of work, from manual laborers to artificial intelligence.
|