Bangkit/Arise – Asian Art Museum

Bambang Toko, Harind Arvati, Nano Warsono, Ucup, Vina Puspita, Wedhar Riyadi, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, 2018

Bangkit/Arise is an international arts exchange and residency between artists from the San Francisco/Bay Area, USA and Yogyakarta Indonesia. The lead sponsoring organization for Bangkit/Arise is Clarion Alley Mural Project, based in San Francisco in collaboration with the Asian Art Museum Chong Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture. The projects partners in Yogyakarta Indonesia are Desa Panggungharjo and the Institut Seni Indonesia, Yogyakarta.

In July/August 2018 five of the artists from the SF/Bay Area – Kelly Ording, Jet Martinez, Jose Guerra, Christopher Statton and Megan Wilson arrived in Yogyakarta to spend 5 – 7 weeks as part of the residency exchange. Unfortunately because of greater geopolitical circumstances, two of the Bay Area artists – Shaghayegh Cyrous and Keyvan Shovir were unable travel and to be a part of the first phase of the exchange; however, they are still very much a part of the exchange and will be traveling to Yogyakarta as soon as it is possible.

On September 3rd six of the Yogyakarta artists – Nano Warsono, Bambang Toko, Ucup, Wedhar Riyadi, Vina Puspita and Harind Ndarvati arrived in San Francisco to spend 8 weeks in the Bay Area getting to work with our communities here. Sadly, one of the Indonesian artists – Codit – was unable to be a part of the current residency in San Francisco due to greater geopolitics; however, he too is still part of the exchange and will travel to San Francisco when possible.

Bangkit/Arise is designed to foster discussions, understanding, and action on critical social/political issues facing our global and local communities today using art as a point of departure. Subjects being addressed include:

  1. Community development and the role of art in supporting Civic Design through:
  • Creating a culture of creativity;
  • Placemaking;
  • Community building and networking;
  • The engagement of residents and visitors/tourists; and
  • Economic growth and livelihood – the creative economy;
  1. The role of the public commons;
  2. Environmentalism and the critical need for a call to action;
  3. Current geopolitical divisions, xenophobia and how we envision a world rooted in social justice, equity, and collaboration;
  4. The need for radical inclusion and understanding differences and similarities as a means of strength and the goal of collectively dismantling local and global inequities/oppression.

The Asian Art Museum is CAMP’s institutional partner for Bangkit/Arise, providing support and presenting the large multi-panel wall of murals as part of the Village Artists’ Corner at the Museum. The Village Artist Corner features rotating murals and monthly programs at the dragon sculpture on the corner of Fulton and Larkin Streets adjacent to the Asian Art Museum. The program was developed as part of Groundplay, a City collaboration co-led by the Mayor’s Office of Civic Innovation, San Francisco Planning, and the San Francisco Arts Commission.

Artist Nano Warsono in front of mural at Asian Art Museum

Designed by San Francisco public high school students in the Architecture Program at Youth Art Exchange, the sculpture is inspired by mythological creatures found in the art and literature of many different cultures and time periods. Our dragon is decorated with a myriad of patterns found on artwork in the Asian Art Museum’s collection. Over the next two years, the intended life of the project, the sculpture and area around it will be programmed with monthly activities and new mural openings. Monthly activities take place on the first Sunday and the second Wednesday of each month.

 
















Checkout the interviews with the artists from Indonesia conducted with the Asian Art Museum: