Iwan Wijono

Iwan Wijono was born in Solo, Central Java. While studying international law (graduated from Indonesian Islamic University) and painting (Indonesian Institute Of Art) in Jogjakarta (Indonesia), Wijono became active in the pro-democracy movement against the Soeharto regime. In the 1990’s he became known as a pro-democracy street performer with (or without) political demonstration. Besides a political awareness, Wijono gained an aesthetic understanding that performance art was a milieu that could be undertaken anywhere and was not restricted by exhibition space, public or even the time of the activity.

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Public Kitchen Anthem

Eighth Series +

9 May 2020

Online

Performed with Franziska Fennert, Adam Gruba (Sesama), Rolly (Wayang Polah) Videographer: Deden Ardiansyah. The art material: Bucek & Iduy.

The song Public Kitchen Anthem: lyric by Iwan Wijono, arrangement by Bucek, recorded & edited by Kiky Bedjo Studio, vocals by Bucek-Iwan-Iduy-Deden.

In 2016 Iwan Wijono established the house for art residency, art studies, as homestay, as art studio, and also as public kitchen with various art cooking programs; the house called as Riverhouse Njomblang. The house is beside the river and bridge Njomblang. Beside the Riverhouse produces various fruit wine with the label Public Kitchen, when he had art trip in Eastern Europe (2017) also created street preformative action as Public Kitchen, cooking on the street, eating and talking with people on the street with various topics.

In 2020 the pandemic virus corona Covid-19 infected Indonesia, the social distance policy ruled by the authority, lots informal workers no income, earning money a day for eating that day. The Public Kitchen of the Riverhouse, worked with the Sesama art space/community, Nusantara Tribe community, Ayam Gentong resto, Rumah Hitam tattoo community, and various young artists established the Solidarity Public Kitchen Yogyakarta. The kitchen distributed alots foods to various communities, included to the girls who work in the red light district. Everyday alots people distributed foods to many workers who need, but nobody distributed to the red light district. We performed to distributed the foods, masks, and hand sanitizer in the area. We thought that the people need to eat not only for the hungry stomach, also for their thought and soul, basically for the taste of life.