OK Video Festival Jakarta

OK. Video COMEDY
4th Jakarta Internasional Video Festival
28 July – 9 August 2009

[CologneOFF partner festival 2009]

Video art has developed along with the expansion and advancement of technology. Different from other media, the development of video art has always involved complex progress, advancement, sophistication as well as complication of video as an applied technology, which has expanded its ability to generate limitless layers of meaning. The encounter of video technology and moving images in the era of global media has changed the way in which people perceive the reality.

Many works have proved that video art, as a set of practices based on theory, can point out, reflect and comment on many issues in the contemporary society. Some video artists have attempted to approach the issues of technological impact of video with specific perspectives and localities, including more general problems and questions raised around the relationship and its fused border between “real” and “illusory”, “original” and “copies”, as well as “truth” and “falsehood”. Sometimes, their commentaries go so far as to argue that the distinction between those binary oppositions implies the problem of the hegemony politics.

O.K. Video – Jakarta Video Festival is trying to raise the issues of technological power of video to incite a “floating awareness” in everyday life, and more importantly, to trigger critical apprehension of the moving images. Video art should not merely be a tool that can convey information, ideas or messages, but should give sharper insights to the way we see the reality which is largely modified by technology and mass media.

OK. Video – Jakarta International Video Festival is a biannual video festival held since 2003. OK. Video is one of the events organized by ruangrupa to discuss the social and cultural phenomena in Indonesia and the international world within a festival with a specific theme. OK. Video 2003 was showcasing the latest development in international video arts whereas the raised theme in the second festival (2005) was Sub-Version. In the third festival (2007), the theme was Militia where we conduct video workshop in 12 Indonesian cities and video screening in Jakarta public spaces.

The 4th Jakarta International Video Festival choosed Comedy as its theme. COMEDY is an effective way to free ourselves from anxiety. As a critique that disguise itself as a form of entertainment, comedy helps us to reflect, laugh at ourselves, protest without anger, and turn calamity into hilarity. As a way to communicate, comedy never dies and has been accompanying us since time immemorial, from the form of comedy that uses the body as a medium to one that uses the audio-visual language.

OK. Video COMEDY will look at comedy as a form of communication using the medium of video, which responds to a variety of problems in critical ways. From the problems of the city, politics, power, modernity, technology, economy, generation, gender, tradition, religion, mass media, identity, pop culture, art, daily lives, to the general election. OK. Video Festival is focused on non-narrative video works and open for reconstructions, recording manipulations, and an array of experiments of the audio-visual language. We receive video works with a variety of approaches to comedy – from jokes, parodies, to absurd, satirical, sarcastic, vulgar, as well as tragic comedy.

OK.Video COMEDY 4th Jakarta International Video Fesitval initiates an international competition which invites video makers from around the world to participate through an open call submission. Submitted video works will be selected by a panel of judges who will nominate and present them in the festival at Galeri Nasional Indonesia. Winners will be announced on the festival’s opening.

Panel of judges: Agung Kurniawan (visual arts activist, Indonesia), Lisabona Rahman (film programmer, Indonesia), Hikmat Budiman (social cultural scientist, Indonesia), Ade Darmawan (artist, Indonesia), Aminuddin TH Siregar (curator, Indonesia).

Opening
Galeri Nasional Indonesia
Tuesday, 28 July 2009 | 19.00 WIB

Festival
Galeri Nasional Indonesia | 29 July – 9 August 2009
Open Hour: 10.00 – 20.00 WIB
Curator: Aminuddin TH Siregar

Artist Talk/Lecture/Master Class
Friday, 31 July 2009 | 14.00 – 16.00
Jakarta Art Institute
“Media Art Practice”
Lecturer: Reza Afisina (Indonesia) & Reinhaart Vanhoe (The Netherlands)

Monday, 3 August 2009 | 10.00 – 14.00
Jakarta Art Institute
“History of Media Art and New Media Art”
Lecturer: Agung Hujatnikajennong (Indonesia) & Barbara Smeenk (The Netherlands)

Discussion
Galeri Nasional Indonesia

Saturday, 1 August 2009 | 15.00 – 17.00 WIB
“Comedy Culture in Indonesia”
Speakers: Arswendo Atmowiloto & Antariksa
Moderator: JJ Rizal

Saturday, 1 August 2009 | 17.00 – 19.00 WIB
“Comedy Strategy in Video Arts”
Speakers: Aminudin TH Siregar & Hikmat Budiman
Moderator: Hafiz

Tuesday, 4 August 2009 | 15.00 – 17.00 WIB
“Comedy in Television”
Speaker: Veven SP Wardhana
Moderator: Ardi Yunanto

Tuesday, 4 August 2009 | 17.00 – 19.00 WIB
“Humour and Political Ad”
Speaker: Nirwan Arsuka
Moderator: Mirwan Andan

Screening & Discussion
Sunday, 1 August 2009 | 14.00 – 16.00
Senayan City, 4th Floor
“Screening and Discussion with LG”
Artist: Anggun Priambodo

Thursday, 6 August 2009 | 19.00 – 21.00
Newseum Cafe
Artist: ruangrupa

Video Workshop
“Let’s Shoot! With Ari Dina”
Galeri Nasional Indonesia
Saturday, 1 August 2009 & Saturday, 8 August 2009
10.00 – 16.00 WIB

This festival will screens selected video arts from Afghanistan, Albania, Argentine, Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Malaysia, Palestine, Poland, Singapore, Slovak Republic, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sweden, The Netherlands, UK, Ukraine and USA.
And three special presentations from Centre Cultural Francais Jakarta, CologneOFF and Goethe Institut Jakarta.

O.K. Video – Jakarta Video Festival was established by ruangrupa, an artists’ initiative based in Jakarta that focuses on supporting the development of the arts in the specific context of culture in Indonesia through research, study and documentation, along with intensive collaboration and cooperation with artists through organizing exhibitions, artist residency programs, art projects and workshops.