PASAR MALAM \ NIGHT MARKET

CONTEMPORARY PRINTMAKING FROM INDONESIA & AUSTRALIA

EXHIBITIONS QUESTIONS

The questions provided in this resource may be used for written responses, examination preparation, or for open-ended discussions in the gallery or the classroom.

Pre-visit Questions

• What do you think a “night market” might look like? Have you ever visited a night market or festival?

• Have you ever been to Indonesia? What did you observe about their arts and culture?

• Why do you think artists might be interested in places like night markets?

• What techniques do you think artists might use to represent chaos, mystery, or ritual?

Visiting Exhibition Questions

• What do you think the phrase “the world reversed” means?

• Why might artists include themes like mysticism, mythology, or taboo in their work?

• Do any artworks make you feel uncomfortable, curious, or surprised? What do you think the artist wants you to feel?

• If you could ask one of the artists a question, what would it be?

Post-visit Questions

• How do you think art can help us talk about difficult or hidden topics like violence, gender, or belief?

• Choose one artwork and describe how you would respond to it in your own artmaking?

• What connections can you make between the exhibition and your own community or culture?

• Would you recommend this exhibition to a friend? Why or why not?

VOCABULARY

Appropriation: to take something for one’s own use. In art this refers to the sampling of an image and redefining its established meaning through its involvement in new work.

Colonisation: The act of one country taking control over another, often leading to cultural loss, exploitation, and long-term impacts on identity and society.

Contemporary: belonging or occurring to the present.

Conventional: things that are normal, ordinary and following the accepted way.

Cultural hybridity: A mix of different cultural influences in one person or artwork.

Identity: How someone sees themselves, including culture, beliefs, and experiences.

Marginalisation: When a group or idea is pushed to the edges of society and ignored.

Memory: Personal or shared recollections that influence how we see the world.

Mysticism: Belief in hidden or spiritual truths beyond everyday understanding.

Narrative: A story told through words, images, or symbols.

Non-conventional: things that do not follow the acceptable or normal way, but are eccentric, alternative or new.

Otherness: The feeling of being different or outside the norm in a group or culture.

Recontextualization: is a process that extracts text, signs, or materials from its original context and reuses it in another context.

Ritual: A repeated cultural or spiritual practice, often with symbolic meaning.

Screenprinting: A methos of printing images using a mesh screen and ink.

Symbolism: Using images or objects to represent ideas or emotions.

Taboo: A subject or action that is socially or culturally avoided or forbidden.

Tradition: the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way.

Bahasa Indonesian and Javanese language words:

Istana Hantu: ‘Haunted House’ - A symbolic space of fear and folklore.

Kejawen: ‘Javanese Spiritual Beliefs’ - A mix of animism, mysticism, and Islamic teachings.

Pasar Klitikhan: ‘Thieves Market’ - A market selling old, discarded, or possibly stolen goods.

Pasar Malam: ‘Night Market’ - A lively, chaotic space of trade, ritual, and transgression.

Pasar Senthir: ‘Lamplight Market’ - A second-hand market, often chaotic and mysterious.

Pidan:’ Sacred Silk Textile’ - Used in traditional Cambodian rituals (referenced in related exhibitions). Preman: ‘Gangster / Thug’ - Often used to label victims of state violence.

Rajah: ‘Prayer Charm / Talisman’ - A written prayer worn for protection or fertility.

Sekaten: ‘Javanese Carnival Festival’ - A traditional celebration blending Islamic and animist rituals.

Siksa Neraka: ‘Torments of Hell’ - Religious imagery used to scare or instruct moral behaviour.

Tong Edan: ‘Crazy Barrel’ - A carnival ride where motorcyclists ride inside a barrel.

Leyla Stevens studio progress images at Krack temporary studio, Yogyakarta. Image courtesy of Krack Studio.

Ipeh Nur studio progress images at Krack temporary studio, Yogyakarta. Image courtesy of Krack Studio.

About contemporary art

in southeast Asia

Eluding simple definitions or falsely universalising connections between distinct histories and cultures, the art of southeast Asia is vibrant, dynamic and complex, bearing traces of “the rise and fall of kingdoms and empires, and … the historical traces of colonisation and the often-traumatic birth of nations.”1 Artists from Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia explore local and global themes including personal and national identity and community, cultural knowledge, power, faith and the increasingly urgent impact of humans on fragile ecosystems.

Find out more

https://theartling.com/en/artzine/artist-defined-contemporary-southeast-asian-art

https://artsandculture.google.com/story/no-country-contemporary-art-for-south-and-southeast-asia-solomon-r-guggenheim-museum/1QUh-qBV5YVyKQ?hl=en

https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/five-of-the-most-influential-women-artists-from-southeast-asia

https://artradarjournal.com/7-influential-women-artists-from-asia-pacific/

Joan Kee (2011) Introduction Contemporary Southeast Asian Art, Third Text, 25:4, 371-381, DOI: 10.1080/09528822.2011.587681 at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09528822.2011.587681

1 “No Country: Contemporary Art for South and Southeast Asia”, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation