SYDNEY.- Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation presents a major new commission from Indonesian multi-disciplinary artist Jompet Kuswidananto, titled After Voices.

Jompet Kuswidananto (born 1976) is based in Yogyakarta, Indonesia and for SCAF’s 32nd project he created an immersive, multi-disciplinary installation within the SCAF gallery.

Jompet's personal experience of social hysteria and trauma – following the 1998 fall of Suharto's New Order – frames After Voices. After a long period of repression, political demonstrations became frequent, and long suppressed voices were finally heard.

This dramatic work presents a carnivalesque procession of life-size 'ghost figures' constructed from helmets, uniforms, mechanical hands, musical instruments and motorcycle headlights that parade through the gallery. The figures are surrounded by loudspeakers, flags, megaphones, television monitors, drums and empty shoes – symbolic of those wanting to be heard above the chaos.

Costume, kinetic movement, film and a layered soundscape transform the chaos and violence of these events into a complex sensory experience. After Voices dramatises this cacophonous period of Indonesian history, incorporating threads of personal narratives and conflicting historical accounts.

Jompet Kuswidananto studied Communications at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. Originally trained as a musician, he became involved in the visual arts through a network of young and experienced practitioners within the Yogyakata arts community. Since 1998 he has worked with ‘Teater Garasi,’ a multidisciplinary collective of artists presenting shows that reflect Indonesian life after the fall of the Suharto regime.

Jompet works across installation, video, sound, performance and theatre. Using musical instruments, video projections, mechanical elements, costume and found objects, Jompet creates works that explore Indonesia’s history and the complexities of the nation’s contemporary life in a globalised world. His practice draws inspiration from politics and focuses on issues relating to mass mobilisation in the context of post-Reformation Indonesia. Power in its various manifestations remains a central concept.

In 2014 Jompet garnered a major award for emerging Asian artists, the Prudential Eye Award. The Prudential Eye Programme is a partnership between Saatchi Gallery, London; Parallel Contemporary Art; and Prudential.

After Voices is curated by Alia Swastika who has worked as Program Director for Ark Galerie, Yogyakarta, Indonesia since 2008 and is actively involved as a curator, project manager and writer. With Suman Gopinath, she was the co-curator of the Biennale Jogja XI, Shadow Lines: Indonesia Meets India (2011), and was one of the co-artistic directors for the Gwangju Biennale IX: Roundtable (2012).