View Source: Rumah Seni Cemeti

!I Introduction<br>
In "Deux ex Machina," Catherine Ramirez looks at how areas considered isolated from "modern culture" are stereotyped as "remote, backward, and quaint," and an encapsulation of agrarian, preindustrial and premodern society.  She unveils the artwork of Marion Martinez as a challenge to the myths about these so called remote areas, which are in effect, affected by modern society today, as in the case of Martinez and her community, as a cheap labor pool and a dumping ground for the hazardous wastes of the fast-paced and totally modern technology industry.  The powerful work of Marion Martinez manages to merge the two worlds together, and relates them both in a very organic and spiritual way.

When looked at through Western eyes, the same could be said about the society and culture in the urban areas and rural communities of  Indonesia.  Many companies, both small and large do business there, due to the much cheaper production costs, and lower-waged labor pool.  Again, as a result, these communities have modernity forced upon them, and as a result, the culture is under a constant transformation...<br>

What I will speak of today is not one artist in particular from that area, but a unique member of the contemporary art community in Yogyakarta, Java, the CeMetI Art House (Rumah Seni Cemeti). [http://www.cemetiarthouse.com]

Rumah Seni Cemeti is an contemporary art organization that is truly proactive in its attempts to create a discourse between contemporary art/artists and traditional Javanese/Indonesian society/culture.

!II Exhibitions/ Happenings Keeping Traditions Alive and Facilitating Open Discourse Between Traditional Java and Contemporary Javanese Communities<br>

   A. Village Star Ritual Event [http://www.cemetiarthouse.com/english/past/moel.htm#view]
	An evening ritual meal with the villagers of Pancitan.
	*Installation made by the villagers showing their much valued knowledge of plant medicine, and agriculture.
	  A huge ritual meal was set out in the gallery, and the villagers served tea, coffee, and explained the roots 	  and vegetables laid out on the long table, encouraging the visitors to try them.
	*The villagers shared the rice pounding ritual with the audience.

	!Questions Raised by the Exhibition<br>
	*Can farmers be independent when those who hold most of the capital determine the price of rice?
	  Farmers don't earn enough to cover the modal to buy food, fertilizer, pesticides, and pay labor costs of 	  growing their rice crops, while the cost of a new motorbike is the same as that in Jakarta, the nation's 	  capital.<br>
	*"The interaction amongst community members at cultural gatherings is a venue for discussing social, 	   economic, cultural, and political problems and to plan for corrective action. The current practice is to strengthen 	   the cells of farmer's informal cultural institutions as a methodology of consciousness for social 	   transformation. Moelyono, the curator of the show, with the Art Community Foundation, is a facilitator for 	   strengthening local culture in the villages,"  and Cemeti Art House brings this important work into the 	   contemporary art community's consciousness as well.

   B. Keeping Traditional Artisans and Traditional Artforms Alive: <br>
       Biboki  Weaver's Exhibition [http://www.cemetiarthouse.com/english/past/biboki.htm#view]<br>
	*The Cemeti Gallery has hosted an exhibition of  of contemporary handwoven textiles from Yayasan Tafaen 	  Pah, Biboki, West Timor.  YTP has elevated the cultural, social and economic status of the makers of these 	  textiles. Yayasan Tafean Pah's strength lies in its recognition that the process of retaining this precious 	  heritage can only occur in balance with the development and growth of the Biboki communities. The 	  integrity of this approach reaffirms the role of art and culture practice as a critical tool in the empowerment 	  and growth of communities, as well as  enabling Biboki textiles to become a reinvigorated and widely 	  recognized contemporary art form.

!III Exhibitions/Happenings that Deal with Contemporary Issues in Southeast Asia and Being Human in  	Today's Modern Society
  A. Race: choose one.  This issue is not restricted to Nakamura's observations of the internet.<br>
	Batu Bata Tanah Air (Stone, Brick, Fellow Countryman)[http://www.cemetiarthouse.com/english/past/nadia.htm#view]
	*Malaysians have been categorized ethnically into Malay, Chinese, Indian, and Other. This maintains 	  political and economic racial segregation, and therefore overall control, by the ruling elite.
	*This project entitled Batu Bata Tanah Air is an attempt by artist Nadiah Bamadhaj and human rights activist 	  Tian Chua, to look at Malaysia’s racialisation in infrastructure and language today, and imagine a future of 	  their own.

  B. A Modern "Civilization:" Insurance, Pop Stardom, and Investigation Into How the Eye Sees:
	* Revolution Ugly No Beauty[ http://www.cemetiarthouse.com/english/past/beauty.htm#view]
	*Kill Your Television [http://www.cemetiarthouse.com/english/past/pop.htm#view]
	*Change Yourself[http://www.cemetiarthouse.com/english/past/change.htm#view]
	*For Your Consideration Only [http://www.cemetiarthouse.com/english/past/fs.htm#view]

!IV Conclusion
   Rumah Seni Cemeti is truly concerned with issues a rapidly changing global culture, and how it affects the people in      the Yogyakarta community, and Indonesian people as a whole.  This community extends itself to opening the doors for discourse between artists, non-artist community members, and the international community through the creation of a venue for happenings, discourse, discussion, exhibition, and reflection regarding the issues of a traditional society existing in a modern world.
View Source: Rumah Seni Cemeti

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