Singing Birds, Moving Mountains

Exhibition exploring the possibilities of the urban periphery

The TOKAS Project is designed to foster international exchange and inspire reflection on diverse themes such as art and society from multicultural perspectives. In its seventh iteration, the project welcomes Ayos Purwoaji, a 2023 participant in TOKAS’s Curator Residency Program, as co-curator. This exhibition probes the potential of outlying regions through the works and activities of artists from Indonesia and Japan.

In the aftermath of the pandemic, Japan has seen a major population influx to Tokyo and vicinity, further intensifying the concentration of the population in the capital region. Meanwhile, Indonesia plans to gradually relocate its capital approximately 2,000 kilometers from Jakarta to Nusantara, in East Kalimantan province on the east coast of the island of Borneo, starting in 2024 due to issues such as traffic congestion, air pollution, and land subsidence. While cities have historically been hubs of power and magnets for people and goods, such fraying of urban fabrics is now an undeniable global phenomenon.

This exhibition showcases artists who pursue creative endeavors in rural locations, motivated by structural changes in the societies of both Indonesia and Japan. Like birds that play an essential role in the Earth’s ecosystem, these artists’ locally rooted works have the capacity to carry seeds across diverse environments, and are collectively imbued with the power to metaphorically move mountains.