Exploring the relationship between the past and the future through “Fragmenting Yesterday, Reshaping Tomorrow”.
Photo by ICAD’s Documentation
Close your eyes for a moment. Whose names come to mind first when you think of someone important in your life? How does this act of reflecting on those people make you feel? The existence of significant individuals in our life always evokes particular memories, and most certainly gives meanings.
Reflecting on the theme “Fragmenting Yesterday, Reshaping Tomorrow,” one of the participants, Studio Woork, focused on people’s presence around us that draws the line between our past and the future, as well as how we respond in the present based on their presence. We have a tendency to carve people’s names onto our past, present, and future. We cherish these names and yearn for how they make us feel. We gather those emotions, store, and name them in order to revive them. We are also always striving to maintain a balance between them; neither to dwell too much in the past, nor to cling to what we believe our future holds.
The outcome was The Present (2022), a motion video projection that was an extension of ICAD 12’s brand identity–on which Studio Woork built. Much like everybody else in the world affected by the pandemic, the team behind Studio Woork recollected their memories while attempting to predict their future together through this presentation. They opted to portray it through motion video in order to balance viewers by keeping them focused on the present.
The ICAD 12 Curatorial Team stated in its curatorial statement that “Fragmenting Yesterday, Reshaping Tomorrow” strives to comprehend how our society evolves while tracing the relationship between what belongs to our past and what belongs to our future. This subject is inextricably linked to the epidemic as a collective memory that has affected us all. The last three years have allowed for more in-depth views of numerous events that have occurred and how our world will shape up in the coming years. We may see, and later try to understand, the participants’ critical viewpoints and creativity via the realities of social issues expressed in the highlighted works.
Through this exhibition, we may learn about the participants’ varied points of view, which range from comical to political, analytical to speculative; their thoughts add to a spectrum of knowledge and discourses on relevant themes such as the environment, history, technology, and civilisation. “Many of the artists’ and designers’ works delve into the concept of making beyond function and aesthetic, by considering the ethical and cultural values of materials
and the creation process itself, so as to evoke a certain meaning from their work,” said lead curator Amanda Ariawan. ICAD 12 brought together 59 multidisciplinary creative actors ranging from senior contemporary artists to young creators, collectives, or communities working in art, design, music, culture, and new materials.
ICAD 12 presented a variety of works that responded to specific places of grandkemang Jakarta hotel using alternative materials, highlighting the advantages and exquisity of these accessible concerns, as done by both Trianzani Sulshi and PLAYO. PLAYO, a playground-based creative studio that encourages exploration to solve everyday problems, also demonstrated innovation in the exploration of alternative materials, such as its architectural exhibition using bio-based materials in collaboration with Erasmus Huis and the outcomes of a British Council-initiated design workshop focused on sustainable materials.
Other works bring the subject of inclusivity, such as Tactogram, which presents its original universal navigation system to support accessibility for the blind, and Tab Space, with young artists and illustrators with disabilities, use the concept of “open studio” to demonstrate a collaborative process in producing works. Collaborative works were also featured in the Kemendikbudristek Immersive Box, which displayed a variety of cultural heritage and installations of MSME products in collaboration with a design studio.
Aside from the exhibition, ICAD 12 featured eight (8) sessions of talkshow programs, workshops, and masterclasses co-hosted by creative practitioners, associations, and international cultural institutions. ICAD’s partners are being developed via consistency and a long journey full of ideas and exchanges, one of which is through beginning to interact with community partners outside of design and art.
ICAD, in its vision to be a leading platform in bringing together design, art, and other disciplines by continuing to inspire and facilitate designers, artists, and other creative economy practitioners in the country, not only brings relevant themes, but also recognizes the importance of maintaining synergy among creative practitioners, communities, industry, education centers, and the government in developing and sustaining Indonesia’s creative economy ecosystem. The Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Kemenparekraf) has designated ICAD as one of the top five official agenda items for the Kharisma Event Nusantara (KEN) 2022 in 2022.
