Through the help of the National Culture and Arts Foundation's (NCAF) Taiwan International Arts Network ARTWAVE, Taiwanese artists Sakuliu Pavavaljung (撒古流) and Chang En-man (張恩滿) were invited to participate as members of the Indonesian curatorial team ruangrupa in the 15th edition of documenta, a contemporary art exhibition to be held between June 18 and Sep. 25 2022 in Kassel, Germany.
ruangrupa's curatorial theme will revolve around lumbung, a term originating from the "barn" jointly managed by residents in rural Indonesia which serves as a collective fund or storage system for surplus crops after the production is distributed.
ARTWAVE was established by the NCAF in 2018 with the aim of taking advantage of Taiwan's creative development in various fields, and promote the link between Taiwan's contemporary art and the world. In October 2019, ARTWAVE invited ruangrupa members Ade Darmawan and Mirwan Andan to participate in a seminar in Taiwan.
NCAF noted that ruangrupa had already been accepted as a curatorial team of documenta fifteen at the time of its visit to Taiwan, during which it showed a keen interest in Taiwanese artists.
ruangrupa (spelled and written with a lowercase 'r') is a non-profit organization in Indonesia. Its members include artists and professionals from different fields such as social sciences, politics, technology, and media. They provide critical observations and opinions on contemporary issues in Indonesian cities, and carry out many collaborative projects through exhibitions, art festivals, art laboratories, workshops and publications.
Taiwanese artists who have been invited to documenta in the past include Lin Show-yu (林壽宇), Tseng Yu-chin (曾御欽) and Wang Hong-kai (王虹凱).
Founded in 1955 by Kassel painter and academy professor Arnold Bode, documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH is a non-profit organization supported and funded by the City of Kassel and the State of Hesse, as well as by the German Federal Cultural Foundation.