Benny Widyo of Gulung Tukar (ID) invites Ella Chedburn (UK) for a residency project at Gutuhaus, Tulungagung, Indonesia, to explore various narratives surrounding the founding of Tulungagung involving the planting of seven banyan trees.
The Trees and The Wires is a title for an art project and residency inspired by the name of a band, The Trees & The Wild. This kind of tongue-in-cheek naming is common for my artistic group, Gulung Tukar. Trees and wires are two things that came to mind when the initial idea of this project was being conceived—an art project collecting various narratives of planting seven banyan trees as markers in the process of transforming a swamp into a city.
This swamp-turned-city is Tulungagung. Often misinterpreted as meaning ‘a great (agung) favour (tulung)’, ‘tulung’ in this context refers to the Sanskrit word ‘telang,’ meaning swamp or peatlands.
In this project, we explored all possible data, from stories and myths to local library archives, from the scientific to the mystical. We visited places directly related to places related to the Seven Mythical Banyan Trees (Ringin Kurung) and the Tulungagung floods, as well as sites that would help us understand more about the city’s historical context.
We met several informants who helped us unravel the diverse narratives. The findings of this research are not used to refute or correct history—as part of an art project, the narratives we encountered should not be forced to cohere into a singular narrative, but instead provide a context for transformation into artworks and associated programmes.
A fun process with spontaneous improvements
‘Fun’ is the best word to describe our process. We exchanged knowledge and stories of our experiences, with language and cultural barriers with foreign artists presenting its own sense of excitement.
During our research period during Ramadan, for example, Ella had to adjust to the tempo of the Gulung Tukar team members who were fasting, but these kinds of experiences only made us grow closer together through new habits like dining together during the iftar fast breaking.
For the most part, The Trees and The Wires project went according to plan. We had to make adjustments to the timeline in the beginning as we had to make room for administrative matters. The plan to conclude the exhibition and public programme with a project presentation and book launch had to be postponed because we needed more time.
We took advantage of this extra time to expand our audience. The art project presentation was held on campus to reach more scholars and academics. The book launch was scheduled to include as wide an audience as possible, including government officials and stakeholders.
