Garden Amidst the Flame; Lacuna for Compassion

Garden Amidst the Flame; Lacuna for Compassion is a multimedia installation that expands on Natasha Tontey’s artistic research on Minahasan cosmology. This installation focuses on a ritual ceremony of the Minahasan people, an ethnic group native to Indonesia, known as Karai. In Karai rituals, Minahasan warriors don of an impenetrable armour that would make themselves invulnerable. Tontey attempts to reimagine the Karai, which is mostly understood as a hyper-masculine ritual with most of the participants being male, by relating it to care and vulnerability rather than aggression and masculinity.

Commissioned by Singapore Biennale 2022

Garden Amidst the Flame; Lacuna for Compassion (2022), as part of Singapore Biennale 2022 named Natasha. Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum.

Garden Amidst the Flame; Lacuna for Compassion (2022), as part of Singapore Biennale 2022 named Natasha. Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum.

Performance documentation of Garden Amidst the Flame; Lacuna for Compassion (2022), as part of Singapore Biennale 2022 named Natasha. Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum.

Garden Amidst the Flame; Lacuna for Compassion (2022), as part of Singapore Biennale 2022 named Natasha. Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum.

Written and Directed by Natasha Tontey
Co-Directed and Dramaturg by BM Anggana
Music Director and Composer: Wahono (Divisi62)
Production Designer and Illustrator: Awigarda
Set Builder: Agge Merah
Video Editing: Arief Budiman

Performance and audio recording in collaboration with Harsya Wahono, Kawasaran Wulan Lengkoan, B. M. Anggana, Fioretti Vera, Tielman Sisters, and M. T. Kembuan