Rama Saputra is an Indonesian-based composer and intermedia artist. His art practice to psychoacoustic experimentation in electronic music and its circulation with images, He questions the idea of post-indigenous temporality and its relations with music, technology, and vernaculars. He ran personal music projects such as Ramaputratantra, Taiwan-Indonesia-based electronic music duo Sundialll, an eclectic rock band GAUNG, organized the free improvisation music platform Opus Jam, and Sontak festival.
He has a degree in product design which focuses on vernacular musical instruments. Recently he went through a residency whose themes and methods are interconnected at Indonesian, Taiwanese, and Saudi Arabia institutions. His work is also featured in alternative digital media, Bandung Universities, and contemporary music platforms in Melbourne and Chengdu.
The transmigration program (Indonesian: Transmigrasi, from Dutch, transmigratie) was an initiative of the Dutch colonial government and later continued by the Indonesian government to move landless people from densely populated areas of Indonesia to less populous areas of the country. This involved moving people permanently from the island of Java, but also to a lesser extent from Bali and Madura to less densely populated areas including Kalimantan, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua. The program is currently coordinated by Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration.
The stated purpose of this program was to reduce the considerable poverty and overpopulation on Java, to provide opportunities for hard-working poor people, and to provide a workforce to utilize better the natural resources of the outer islands. The program, however, has been controversial as fears from native populations of “Javanization” and “Islamization” have strengthened separatist movements and communal violence. (Source: Wikipedia)
Credits:
Footage taken from Gelora Indonesia archive from Kultursinema
In this episode on Extended Asia Vol. 3, “Discovery,” They have a work entitled A Novel Colony in collaboration with Robby Ocktavian.
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Link:
https://instagram.com/ramaputratantra
https://ramasaputra.weebly.com
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Image by Rama Saputra
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This work is part of “Islandwide Coverage,” a multi-site, multi-author project by AWKNDAFFR is an artistic operation situated at the intersection of art, theory, and praxis by Wayne Lim and Soh Kay Min.
Part of “Natasha,” Singapore Biennale [SB2022]—across a network of sites, including the Singapore Art Museum [SAM] at Tanjong Pagar Distripark. It will take place from 16 October 2022 to 19 March 2023.
