Co-hosted by Institute of Southeast Asian Arts and School of Art and Design
Nanyang Academy of Fine Art, Singapore
28-30 July 2021

ARCOLABS participated in the Southeast Asian Arts Forum 2021 “Schoolhouse Mavericks” from 28 – 30 July 2021 as a satellite host and presenter. This second Southeast Asian Forum at NAFA takes the shape of presentation, practice and performance, with a lively discussion and exchange to promote awareness in the spirit of collaboration and discovery. The Forum was held at multiple venues across physical and virtual spaces, and in collaboration with satellite hosts within the region.

The forum aims to illuminate renewed perspectives on the teaching and learning of the arts, address and demonstrate through cultural difference, contentious rubrics, infrastructural limitations, (political) policy realities and intense self-reflections. The goal is to explore these topics of discussion within a Southeast Asian framework and present fresh perspectives for students, educators, and artistic practitioners in the region and beyond.

ARCOLABS presented the ongoing ODA for Art and Culture Education “Made in Cirebon” and also an interactive performance by Yulian Setyanto. The abstract of our presentation is as follows:

Made in Cirebon: Alternative Cultural Arts Education Model for Public Schools in Collaboration with Local Artists in Indonesia

Cultural arts education in public schools in Indonesia faces various challenges. As a result, alternative arts education has become a popular educational model among Indonesian students and has been undertaken by both the private and government sectors. ARCOLABS is organizing an alternative arts and cultural education program for local state school students in 2020 as part of the ODA (Official Development Assistance) for Cultural Arts Education held in Indonesia.

Titled Made in Cirebon, this program aims to encourage the development of cultural arts education in local public schools through collaboration with local artists. The program focuses on an interdisciplinary approach by incorporating art, technology, ecology and local contexts as part of these inclusive educational activities. This program is not only for students and school teachers, but also for local artist communities who learn to become mediators to carry out sustainable arts and cultural education.