In 2014 the artist-run film processing/projection art collective Lab Laba Laba initiated a revitalization project of the old laboratory owned by Indonesia’s state film company (PFN). The establishment not only houses an abandoned celluloid film making facility, but also numerous original negatives of moving pictures produced in the decades from the 1970s to the 1990s, the years of the military regime’s rule.
The project combined archive identification work, artistic interpretation, and public presentation, resulting in a series of workshops, a revitalization of analog film making machines, an introduction to celluloid projection arts, and a number of archive-based artworks. After only a year, the project is now under serious threat. The state film company arbitrarily denied access to the facility and the moving images in their storage. The company withdrew the films from the care of artists and volunteers who have brought these films back to public memory and is once again leaving them to rot away behind their locked storage doors. This presentation is aimed at sharing some of the contemporary works which came out from the Lab Laba Laba’s project, as well as providing a critical look at the absence of archival treatment on this important collection.

Edwin was educated in graphic design in his home town Surabaya before moving to Jakarta to study film. At first he made only short films, but soon Edwin expanded his body of work to include feature films, music videos, and documentaries.

The presentation will be held in English language.