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Opening of my exhibition in Jakarta

Check the pictures of the opening night of my touring exhibition in Jakarta.

Madu, Racun & Negriku (Honey, Poison, and my Country) is an art show that presents various aspects and perceptions of Indonesia, a land of contrasts and contradictions if any. The work of local and international artists were selected and gathered in the prestigious Salihara gallery, which houses within its walls a conference room, a shop, a restaurant, a theater, and of course a gallery. The opportunity for me to go back to Jakarta, the noisy and messy capital of my adopted country.

My art exhibition(s) in Jakarta

I eventually meet Godot with whom I had a lot of emails exchanges after he putted me on the cover of his magazine Babyboss on the last issue.
Nice promotion and great organization. We are quickly moving to a Jakarta radio station to present and promote the event, before returning to the hotel to prepare my talk for the next day. A conference in Indonesian language please … The whole thing was filmed and I will post soon the final cut for people interested.

During my stay in Jakarta, I’ve been invited for an interview on the radio.

Taking advantage of each artist network and following, a large and enthusiastic crowd make it to the opening. My Balinese neighbors wouldn’t understand if they were to learn that I sign autographs and that Jakarta kids compete to get their picture taken with Mega. In fact the concept is a bit new to me too, but I always like to meet and talk with passionate people.

Tea or Coffee? The perfect exhibition opening where nobody is drunk or came to the art show just for the free boozes.

In 2 hours I’m leaving to Bali for a week of debriefing and working before my next exhibition in Malaysia. This is the first exhibition ever in the only Stussy flagship store in Southeast Asia, and I prepared many surprises.

A lot of people came to the opening night of the art exhibition at Salihara gallery in Jakarta.

Young attendees alongside with Indonesian artists were here for the opening of the show.

Rangda Manusia dan Barong, artwork by Mega.

Artwork inspired by the balinese Barong.

This is my own artistic take on the human being from an hindu perspective.

Rangda is “the queen of the leak” (or the bad spirits). It’s a sort of witch from the Hindu Bali culture.

Rangda, Manusia, Barong

As you can see with the 3 artworks above, beside my Longing To Be knotted Together solo show I took part in a group exhibition.

What I presented was a series of 3 silver prints for the Honey Poison exhibition at Galeri Salihara in Jakarta.
For this exhibition I was asked to produce an artwork about the bittersweet taste of Indonesia, the country where I currently live.

I didn’t feel like producing a political artwork, so I made a tribute to the balinese culture in the form of three 1 meter square silver prints.
In Bali, Rangda is a mythological witch. People respect but fear her.
Manusia means human, and symbolize our mankind condition locked somewhere between evil and good.
Barong is a positive and protective force. He is very powerful.

Balinese people are Hindu. They believe that negative forces can help you if you respect them, and positive forces can hurt if they feel offended.
I like the idea of living in a world where powerful spirits are not just Bad or Good. Hindu people have no Evil. They have evils. Evils can help if you show your respect. Hindu people have no God. They have gods. Gods can destroy your life if you are an arrogant greedy man who forget his spiritual duties.

Feel free to check the other reports of my 2011 series of international exhibitions:

2011 | LONGING TO BE KNOTTED TOGETHER | Australia / Asia / Europe:

Take a look at the pictures of my solo exhibition in Paris.

Credits of my exhibition in Jakarta:

I presented this solo exhibition at SALIHARA GALLERY.
I originally posted this report on my Jakarta’s exhibition in French language on STREET TEASE.