Bunyi Bunyi Tumbal

Description

In Kasimyn’s own words, “BUNYI BUNYI TUMBAL” is a “synthetic sentiment for anonymous sacrifice,” encapsulating the emotions born from a dive into the Indonesian war archives. These archives comprise a wealth of photographs documenting the era of Dutch dominion, captured through the lens of the colonizers themselves. From this starting point, the HULUBALANG project was born. HULUBALANG's gaze is drawn to the peripheral figures that populate these historical archives. These secondary characters, devoid of individual significance, are unnamed, unrecognized, and serve as supports for the larger historical narrative. Simultaneously, they become indispensable instruments for learning lessons from the perspective of both victors and vanquished. Within this framework, the notion of TUMBAL, the non-belligerent “sacrifice,” takes on a weight that transcends its translation. TUMBAL behaves neither as a victim nor as a martyr for their cause. It powerfully reminds us of the systemic curse that perpetually breeds disillusionment. BUNYI BUNYI TUMBAL is an act of personal catharsis, the result of a long lineage of anger. It pays homage to a village whose ritual dance, one evening, was disrupted by external forces, shattering the melody and leaving it trapped in a space between innocence and pain.