playing barabah (2016)

As part of the retrospective Hoerijah Adam: tracing the traces

Hoerijah Adam (1936-1971) is a central figure of the 1960s whose ends was marked by experimentation of Indonesian dance that took place here, at Taman Ismail Marzuki(TIM), the Jakarta Arts Center. It was a high time of modernity, when a group of Indonesian dancers of various backgrounds – from Javanese, Balinese to Russian ballet and Grahamesque – met and engaged in close collaboration. Hoerijah had lived an extraordinary- albeit a short life. Her unique upbringing made her an all round artist ahead of her time. Her sudden death in 1971 at the age of 35 – at the prime time of her artistic exploration – left a void of what she would become. With no moving images survives, her legacy is embodied in her dancers/collaborators, through which this Retrospective attempts to trace.

The documentary film Playing Barabah is framed around Sentot Sudiharto, Hoerijah’s dancing collaborator in Jakarta, who is sent off to Hoerijah’s hometown Padangpanjang. Accompanied by filmmaker Faozan Rizal, choreographer Katia Engel and theater actor MN Qomaruddin, Sentot paid homage to Hoerijah’s home and other sites; talked to Hoerijah’s once closest circle – from her youngest son to her students. (Text: Helly Minarti, curator Retrospective Indonesian Dance Festival 2016) read full article

Screening:

Indonesian Film Festival 2017

comissioned/funded by Indonesian Dance Festival