Deden J. Bulqini made the creation from the newspaper with the poses and outlines as the migrants' interpretation for them to get acquainted
On June 15, 2019, the Open-Contemporary Art Center (OCAC), held a "Space: In-Between and Temporarily" public discussion and exhibition. The exhibition and public discussion theme was about the Southeast Asian migrant workers in Taiwan.
The " Space: In-Between and Temporarily" is an exhibition sponsored by the Ministry of Culture of Taiwan, the organizers are the Trans / Voice Project, Brilliant Time Bookstore, SPA Shelter, and Open-Contemporary Art Center (OCAC). The artists who were participating in this exhibition are Deden J. Bulqini and Tony Sarwono, from Indonesia.
Deden J. Bulqini from Bandung, Indonesia is a residency artist who did the project for a month in Taiwan. According to him, body of migrants plays an important role in adjusting their own lifestyles to fill the spaces between daily routines. With the body, the workers will adjust the lifestyle to be able to fill the routine of his/her profession. He hosted a workshop at the SPA Shelter, with the poses and outlines as their interpretation as well as the way for them to get acquainted and define their friends by coloring in a very limited space. Shelter or temporary space function is become the real 'stopover'. The workers who are accommodated at the shelter usually have problems such as incompatibility with work agreements, wages that are not appropriate, bad treatment from an employer (there is a dispute) to the problem of alleged victims of trafficking in persons, abuse, harassment and other violences.
The works in the "Space: In-Between and Temporarily" were using newsprint material and colored by the shelter lodgers. In addition, related to workshops at SPA Shelter, Tony Sarwono, as an artist and migrant worker, also took a part in making a painting, using the newspaper and oil paint as the media.
Tony Sarwono's work shows the atmosphere of the shelter, the daily lives of migrant workers, where the surface performed the “happiness”, love to sing, spend the time to having fun, and do various entertainment activities. But behind that, they actually have feelings of confusion, do not know how to look at the future, even though there is always a glimmer of hope. The past that happened to them was generally a problem that made them have to be in the shelter, clearly illustrated through the painting of gloomy faces and various symbols as the acts of violence.
Tony Sarwono's work shows the atmosphere of the shelter, the daily lives of migrant workers, where the surface performed the “happiness”, "ambiguity and hopes", as well as the "dark things" that happen
The presentation of these creations was a small part of the Indonesian migrant workers’ expression and the daily life at the shelter, which was presented in the media through the workshop and documentation video. The Saturday exhibition was also filled with public discussions and joint meals. Indonesian food, tumpeng (turmeric rice and some vegetables) was served. Some new residents and migrant workers joined this event in order to enliven the atmosphere and understand the works of social-humanist themed exhibition.
