ZICO ALBAIQUNI

In a world of shifting global power structures and increasing political and social movements, shared stories of the legacies of systematic racism and other forms of inequality have come to light. Albaiquni’s practice serves as an index to tap into history to isolate and spotlight Indonesian art from the lens of the colonialism.

Known for his strikingly vibrant colour palette and challenge of hegemonic narratives of representation and interpretation, in Tilem. Disruptive Liminalities Albaiquni takes aim at Indonesian art and its longstanding practices and schools of thought, together with notions of Sundanese values and spirituality.

Albaiquni deconstructs and dismantles international artistic and exhibition practices, through his unique process of image-making and compositions in which he overlays imperial archival imagery with past and re-imagined scenes of Indonesian narratives.

The continual reference to Indonesian art and artists has become a signifying feature of the artist’s practice. His deep admiration for Jeprut: an art movement from Bandung, is visibly expressed in this oeuvre where it functions as a homage to his predecessors who challenged the status quo. The exhibition can be viewed as a process of healing colonial wounds by means of dismantling old practices and structures. The foregrounding of Indonesian art history and its practices, and instilling Sundanese values to his current work charts a new and underexplored direction that can be seen as liminalities that enable different readings of the past and a vision for a future that allows for parity.