ROH Projects is pleased to announce its second participation in Paris Internationale 2019, this time featuring a new site-specific installation by Indonesian collective Tromarama: Beta.
In classic Malay literature and conversation, the word Beta means "I" or "myself", although it is no longer used in Indonesian conversational lexicon with the exception of certain communities, having been replaced with "aku" or "saya". It acts, then, as an embedded manner by which Indonesians have defined themselves in the past that still exists in their memory. Additionally, Beta is also a short form for "Beta Test", which is an evaluative trial phase for machinery or computer software reaching the final stages of development.
For Paris Internationale, Tromarama has developed a site-specific installation that focuses on this dual meaning, one that is based on vestiges of an ever-shifting national identity, and one that is based on experimentation within a more expansive framework of a digital reality. Comprised of a particular selection of processed images, mediums, and objects, the installation evaluates notions of how standardized elementary education programs have been shaped since Indonesia’s independence from Japanese occupation in 1945.
Artist
Art collective formed in 2006
Tromarama is an art collective consisting of Febie Babyrose, Herbert Hans, and Ruddy Hatumena whose artistic interests include the notion of hyperreality and interrelationships between the virtual and the physical worlds. Their art often combines video, installation, and algorithmic based computer programming.
Tromarama has participated in major exhibitions at various notable institutions worldwide. Selected solo exhibitions namely Contraflow at Kiang Malingue, Tin Wan, Hong Kong (2023); PERSONALIA at ROH, Jakarta, Indonesia (2022); Beta (2021 and 2019) respectively at DOCUMENT Space, Chicago, USA, and at Paris Internationale with ROH Projects, Paris, France; LLIMIIINALL (2019) at Edouard Malingue Gallery, Wan Chai, Hong Kong; Amphibia at Centre A, Vancouver, Canada (2017); Tromarama (2015) at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Netherlands. Notable special projects include Tromarama: The Lost Jungle at the Children’s Art Space at Museum MACAN, Jakarta, Indonesia (2021-2022); Madakaripura (2020), at Edouard Malingue Gallery, London, UK; and Private Riots at Encounters, Art Basel Hong Kong presented by Edouard Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong (2016). Tromarama’s selected group exhibitions include 84 Steps at Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam, the Netherlands (2023); CLOUD WALKERS at Leeum Art Museum, Seoul, South Korea (2022); Distrik Seni X Sarinah: Berdikari! at Sarinah, Jakarta, Indonesia (2022); NOT IN MY NAME at CCA Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel (2022); 1 at ROH, Jakarta, Indonesia (2022); Last Words at ROH, Jakarta, Indonesia (2021); Interdependencies: Tropical Lab, Lasalle College of The Arts, Singapore (2021); The Turn of the Fifth Age at Selasar Sunaryo Art Space, Bandung, Indonesia (2021); NGV Triennial at National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia (2020); Contemporary Worlds: Indonesia at National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia (2019); The Extra Extra Ordinary at Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD), Manila, Philippines (2018); Cinerama at Singapore Art Museum, Singapore (2017); Jakarta Biennale 2015: Neither Back nor Forward: Acting in the Present at Gudang Sarinah Ekosistem, Jakarta, Indonesia (2015); and the 11th Gwangju Biennale: The Eight Climate (What Does Art Do?) in Gwangju, South Korea (2016); and more. For the last quarter of 2023, Tromarama is the commissioned artist for the moving image work at M+ Facade, M+ Museum, Hong Kong.
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