TANAH
Progress
Background and inspiration
TANAH means land. TANAH creates attractive theatre using interrogation and participation as its tools. TANAH is inspired by what is happening in Lembang.
The district of Lembang is a located in the mountains north of Bandung. Its beautiful landscape comprised of mountainous farming land has an important agrarian function, but is also filled with touristic attractions. Moreover Lembang is a popular retreat for the growing urban communities of Jakarta and Bandung. During the last years the landscape of Lembang has rapidly taken up a different face. Farming land is being replaced by resorts, hotels and villa's and the asphalted roads surrounding them.
The working proces
TANAH will host public workshops addressing the urban versus rural theme for the people living in Lembang. TANAH strives to look for a future landscape of Lembang that is joyful, diverse, safe, healthy and just. Its interrogation of the land and its users will open up a dialogue between farmers, inhabitants, government and land investors, between people living, working, recreating and surviving in the changing landscape of Lembang.
TANAH will investigate the landscape of Lembang using artistic archaeology. We will look for signs and artefacts embedded in the landscape, inquire into its history and listen to the people who have ever dreamed, hoped, worked, loved or passed by Lembang. TANAH will explore, capture and recreate these ideas using theatrical language, movements and imagery. TANAH will evolve into a visionary “theatrical” landscape where all people live together in harmony with each other and the land.
TANAH will be performed publicly in the open air using both professional actors and local users of the land. All relevant stakeholders and interested people are invited to participate.
Who are involved?
TANAH is part of the Theatre for Development and Education (TDE) program, an initiative of Yayasan Kelola and Theatre Embassy.
Every year TDE invites a professional, highly rated artist to collaborate with the TDE program. The artist chosen for 2010 is Iman Soleh and his CCL community.
Relevance
The ongoing growth of Java’s population and economy is causing major changes. Big challenges lie ahead in terms of the rearrangement of Java’s landscape. Java is the most densely populated island in the world, more than 1000 people live on each square kilometer.
By presenting a visionary future landscape and by creating awareness concerning people’s surroundings TANAH hopes to address the “problem” of growth and its effects on Java’s landscape. The situation in Lembang, where different interests have to be united within one landscape, is taken as example. TANAH is relevant for what is happening all over Java and in many other parts in the world.
