Veronika Burger
(...) Different types of rain sounds. Rapid. Much. Even more. Torrential. Pinching. Rain that brings traffic to a halt. Rain that cannot be heard. Rain followed by heat. Rain that hangs in the sky and does not want to fall. (...)
(...) Winding down and becoming aware of your own tourist economic tracks (...). Free from constant self and time optimisation and from everyday financial worries and strains that usually circle around the artistic process. Having time for art or production, for reading and learning 24/7 without the permanent, looming shadow of my second or third job is a tremendous luxury that can unleash immense energies and ideas. After all, ideas for artistic works are not only born from constant hyper-productiveness.
“…) What is funny in Jogja is the sense of time. To see and realise something, you have to change your own pace. Even at the supermarket. There is an enormous queue there. Nobody complains. Then, the check-out clerk leaves to ‘quickly’ fetch a suitable box in order to pack the things for transport on a moped. Nobody complains. Everything is adjusted to mopeds. Everything. Really everything. Stacked on it and transported. Everything. None of the 20 people queued up, some of them with children, complain or raise their voices. Calmly, they check their e-mails and send messages. Nobody says a word. As slowly as at the Billa supermarket back home on a Saturday afternoon. But nobody loudly requests that another check-out desk be opened. No. Initially, I still thought: My goodness! Now I calmly write my texts waiting at the check-out desk and observe the serene calmness while the purchases are packed for transport by moped. Amazingly, there seem to be only boxes suitable for mopeds. While I calmly check my e-mails. However, not even a second after getting back on the road everything seems to be different. Everybody is speeding. Squeezing. Overtaking. Everything appears to be too slow. At intersections, there is always the same game: who will be the first to drive off (...)
| 1. | Dos & Don'ts at this place: |
| Dos: Learning to drive a moped (rather a MUST!) Riding the moped without a destination and stopping at random as you like it Taking care of your own mind-body connection Learning to speak Indonesian Don'ts: Leaving home without charger. Forgetting the Mac adapter/media player! These tools are hard to get or borrow here. |
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| 2. | Where you can buy great supplies: |
| Lensa Jogja (camera equipment rental) Toko Serat Lurus (ideal for buying inexpensive office and art supplies; approx. 3 minutes by moped/ close to the art university ISI) Yogyatronic (computer accessories, printer cartridges, and everything you (never) need for your smartphone) Toko Progo (90s Carrefour seems to have everything you need) Potentiarte (high-end paper shop, professional art supplies) Uvindo (printing shop for invitations, posters, prints)Again and again, new smaller tokos open. It is recommendable to get advice on site on where to get your art supplies. |
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| 3. | On art at my residency place: |
| Jogja’s art scene is very vibrant and you can attend at least one or even more openings almost every day. To get an overview, it is recommendable to subscribe to the Indoartnow newsletter. In Jogja you get the best information on openings, vernissages, etc., via social media and/or WhatsApp from friends and acquaintances. Unfortunately, the newsletter mailing lists in which you repeatedly enter your name at openings do not work.My personal 'best of' institutions: Cemeti, MES 56, Survive!Garage, Ace House, Ark Gallery, Bale Banjar Sangkring, Kunci, IVAA, Krack!, Studio Kalahan, Redbase, Jogja Open Studio Day, Art Jog, Papermoon Puppet Theatre, Teater Garasi, ISI and many, many more… Another wonderful and recommendable activity in Jogja is: simply write directly to artists and arrange dates for studio visits. | |
| 4. | Around the studio – this is where I go shopping, drink a coffee and get the best lunch specials within walking distance: |
| You can reach virtually everything by moped within a few minutes: from the inexpensive laundry around the corner to the small and delicious warungs at the ISI that mainly win you over with a lot of 'goreng'. My daily breakfast/lunch highlight was a soto ayam/soto kambing with a piece of tempe or tahu at the market. Another highlight of Jogja is that eating out simply costs much less than cooking meals yourself. That’s not only extra convenient but, above all, delicious and saves time! | |
| 5. | Where I like to spend the evening (dinner, drinks and best sound): |
| Yoga and then eating rice, sambal dip, pecel lele and papaya salad on the green terrace of my favourite warung at the ISI. Afterwards just riding the moped and enjoying the airflow, strolling through night markets or enjoying long talks. During my stay, I was only interested in going out or drinking alcohol to a limited extent. Of course, this was partly due to the restrictions on alcohol sales and the resulting high costs. Given the temperatures, the nights are best suited for working anyway. And finally relaxing or being productively 'inefficient'. | |
| 6. | What I would have liked to know about the studio already at the start of my residency: |
| That you are left high and dry without a smartphone and that traffic is so heavy that you cannot do absolutely anything on foot. |
Website resident: veronikaburger.com