BOLOHO once again joins with Reading Room in the creation of another segment of the performative project “Surviving and Chilling”. For this performance, we are thrilled to invite the art collective ruangrupa from Jakarta, Indonesia, curators of documenta 15 (2022) in Kassel, Germany. At ruangrupa’s invitation, BOLOHO experienced 100 unforgettable days in Kassel as a lumbung artist. Six months later, we will have the chance to gather together with our ruangrupa friends at Art Basel Hong Kong: and now is the time for further sharing of cooking skills and exploration of ways of “surviving and making a living”.

Guest profile:
ruangrupa is a collective founded in 2000 and based in Jakarta, Indonesia. As a non-profit organization, ruangrupa promotes artistic ideas within urban and cultural contexts through the involvement of artists and other disciplines such as the social sciences, politics, technology, or the media so as to open up critical reflections and perspectives on contemporary urban problems in Indonesia.
The Indonesian word “ruangrupa” loosely translates as “art space” or “spatial form”. ruangrupa also organizes community art projects such as exhibitions, festivals, art labs, workshops, research projects, and produces books, magazines and online publications. ruangrupa’s work is based on a holistic social, spatial and personal practice that is strongly rooted in Indonesian culture, where friendship, solidarity and community are of central importance.
ruangrupa runs an art space in the south of Jakarta. The collective has participated in numerous collaborative projects and exhibitions, including documenta 15 (2022) where ruangrupa served as the artistic director, Gwangju Biennial (2002 and 2018), Istanbul Biennial (2005), Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (Brisbane, 2012), Singapore Biennial (2011), São Paulo Biennial (2014), Aichi Triennial (Nagoya, 2016) and Cosmopolis at the Centre Pompidou (Paris, 2017). 2016 saw ruangrupa curate transACTION: Sonsbeek 2016 in Arnhem, the Netherlands. In 2018, the collective (together with Serrum and Grafis Huru Hara, two other Jakarta-based collectives) founded GUDSKUL, an education and networking project for creatives based on collaborative work. At documenta 14, ruangrupa was involved with its Internet radio as a partner in the decentralized radio project Every Time an Ear di Soun, which connected eight radio stations worldwide.

Boloho’s Surviving and Chilling on 18 February 2023 at Hanart TZ Gallery. Image Courtesy of Ringo Tang.

ruangrupa, 2019, Ajeng Nurul Aini, farid rakun, Iswanto Hartono, Mirwan Andan, Indra Ameng, Ade Darmawan, Daniella Fitria Praptono, Julia Sarisetiati, Reza Afisina, Photo: Gudskul / Jin Panji. Image captured from Documenta Fifteen official website