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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 November 2024
It was October 2014, my first year of living in Yogyakarta, when I visited Ruang MES 56 (ruang meaning space) at the invitation of Wimo Ambala Bayang, one of the founding members. The collective was just moving into a fairly large space with a front yard on Jl. Mangkuyudan, near the touristic cluster of the city in the southern part of Yogyakarta, or simply known as Jogja. Six years later and looking back at this moment, this year marked a significant transition in the life and configuration of the collective as it entered a different phase by settling in a new space with long-term commitments. In 2020, the rental was extended for another decade and was completely renovated using governmental funds.
Ruang MES 56 was officially initiated in 2002 as a collective of photography students who shared ideas, views, materials, and a dormitory space where they began experimenting with contemporary photography techniques and concepts. It included a handful of students from the Photography Department at Institut Seni Indonesia or ISI (Indonesian Art Institute) in Yogyakarta, and slowly grew into a small community whose members fluctuated from just a few to two dozens, while its current configuration includes around 17 male artists and cultural producers. The founding members continue to hold active positions as gatekeepers working along with a younger generation of artists who have organically become part of the collective, while others were recruited by former director Woto Wibowo (known as Wok the Rock). Apart from the collective, all members are active contributors to the dynamic local art scene, some taking side jobs or developing projects as managers and organizers, while others became established full-time artists.
As one of the most long-lasting art collectives in Indonesia, MES 56’s practice needs to be looked at not only from its relation with the medium of photography, but as a practice of open-ended actions, series, processes and projects. This requires a reflection on the manifold manifestations in which the medium of photography is appropriated by both individuals and the collective as a whole, in its intimate relation with the internal dynamics and external shifting contexts.
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