Inspired by the folk melody “Dayung Sampan”, a tune popular in Singapore as well as Indonesia, the work imagines a voyage across the sea captained by children from both countries. The motif of the layar (traditional sail) sets the scene.
The images on the sails represent children who live between two countries, young adventurers embracing the currents – the in-between space – as home. Their fluid world speaks to the shared history of the region, since exchanges of goods, ideas, and cultures have always been carried along on the currents of the sea. This is also the narrative explored in ACM’s Tang Shipwreck gallery.
The whorled texture on the sails comes from bark fiber of the banana tree, found in both Singapore and Indonesia, and suggests a tapestry of histories and futures that carries these young seafarers on their shared journey.
The Current/s We Call Home (Arus Berlabuh Kita) was produced in collaboration with:
- Banana fiber tapestry: Naruse Kiyoshi & Team of Greenman Studio
- Costume design: Myra Juliarti of siji
- Sound installation: Bani Haykal
- Structure fabrication: I Wayan Upadana
- Sail fabrication: Wayan Nova Adi Wiratama, Nyoman Supena & Made Suadnyana of Karang Kite Surf
With participation of the Agung-Tio family, Ariani-Buencamino family, Chia family, Choo family, Dwiseptiaji family, Fay family, Hromatka family, Huang family, Lim family, Mursalim-Irwanto family, Nasution family, Natadipraya-Teo family, Pannirchelvam family, Park Yena family, Rodrigues-Sutopo family, Rodrigues-Suryadi family, Suganda-Chin family, and the Susilo family.
