Report
Alright! Finally we have come to the end of our journey around Jogja! But the Indonesian series will continue a little bit more.
Let’s go!
To top off this mountain of research of Jogya art spaces, today I must do my presentation to introduce our art space, Art Center Ongoing.
Of course, in English.
My ears got slightly used to English, just as I thought, but speaking is still difficult. I really regret that I didn’t go to study abroad when I was a student. Dear young readers （though you guys may not read such blogs）, it would be better to study overseas once, even if you have to borrow money to achieve this. I am sure.
But there is no use crying over spilt milk. This time everywhere I visited in Jogja, I advertised that I would give my presentation today and there is nothing to do but to challenge this with my terrible English.
My presentation starts at 3pm. Wok The Rock asks me “Before that, let’s have lunch.” and we head to his recommended grilled fish place by taxi in the rain.As you can imagine, the roads are very crowded.Being in a rush, I finish eating a grilled fish dish （I forgot to take photos and didn’t have time to taste properly either） and I look at my watch, it is already 14:30.“Wok The Rock!! Wok The Rock!!” showing my watch and he says, grinning, “It’s okay.” In the rain we catch a taxi and while I am going back with the feeling being in such a hurry, still very few people have gathered there yet. Wok The Rock have expected as much.
After about 30 minutes, people start coming and I finally start my presentation.
Sigh, so nervous.
At the beginning, I introduce about Ongoing projects and share my feedback on what I have observed by visiting so many art spaces around Jogja, and at the end, I talk about the difficulties in running an independent art space in Tokyo. Of course, in English. Then everyone is very interested and it becomes a discussion with everyone joining in rather than just a presentation.
We talk about economics, politics, religion, and the future of Ongoing and the future of Jogja, all kinds of topics.Everyone shares various opinions and different points of view and it is very interesting, allowing me to learn a lot. In fact, I feel I have learnt so much since I came here. As I come close to turning 40 years old, it feels as if I’m a snake, growing as I shed one skin for another.
To all the people of KUNCI -Thank you for making this opportunity.
And dear everyone in Jogja, I really appreciate you all from the bottom of my heart.
Then, photo time together. Feeling so great.
I will be back again here for sure in the future!!
Thank you.
