REDBASE

TAN HANA DHARMA MANGRAWA

Solo Exhibition
5 January - 10 February 2019
Redbase Foundation Indonesia

ARTIST

by Gegerboyo

Gegerboyo is a collaborative project between Vendy Methodos, EnkaNkmr, Dian Suci Rahmawati, Ipeh Nur and Prihatmoko Moki, and was established in June 2016 in Yogyakarta. Gegerboyo is much inspired by traditions of Javanese culture, urban culture, the relation in between and the correlation with the current socio-political phenomena. In this project, Gegerboyo works on panji or pennant –or flag, and symbols commonly used on a pennant or a flag, as a visual reference to their work and it also shows conceptual exploration related to the symbols and the function of the pennant as identification of a particular group, and its historical juxtaposition with war. Historically, pennants or flags were closely related to war, and Indonesian word for flag ‘bendera’ came from Spanish bandera which means ‘flag’ and could also be interpreted as ‘a battalion-equivalent in the Spanish Legion’.

Tan Hana Dharma Mangrwa is a fragment from one of the most important sentence in Kakawin Sutasoma – work of Mpu Tantular, 1400s, where its first fragment was proposed by Mohammad Yamin as the country’s motto, Bhineka Tunggal Ika. Bhineka Tunggal Ika (that one is diverse), Tan Hana Dharma Mangrwa (there is no forked truth or truth is unambiguous), so that is the full version of the motto. Bhineka Tunggal Ika shows the importance of tolerance and Majapahit Kingdom’s pluralism at the time, particularly tolerance between religions. ‘That one is diverse’ could be interpreted that in one Majapahit Kingdom there were various beliefs, groups and tribes, and ‘there is no forked truth or truth is unambiguous’ shows that those differ- ent faiths, groups, and tribes of Majapahit Kingdom believed and united in one truth, which in this case is

Metaphysical Truth and could be equated with the concept of Human Truth (anthropon dikaiosune) – concept of truth that places emphasis on people’s virtue to the others and in which also reflects his virtue to his God.

The words ‘mangrwa’ or ‘forking, becoming two, or ambiguous’ (‘rwa’ means ‘two’) is absorbing, for number two itself was frequently flourishing Majapahit’s history; for example, two wangsa or two royal dynasties (Rajasa and Sinelir), two royal religions (Shaivism and Buddhism), two colors of imperial flag (red and white), and the philosophical dualism concept of rwa bhinedda (two opposites) –duality that is bal- ancing each other, such as: men and women, day and night, good and bad, birth and death, and so forth.

Likewise Modern life, it is flourished with dualistic phenomena, for example: strife between two opposite political groups, matches between two football clubs, friction between two different sects of a religion – each of them has its own respective pennant, they are balancing and complementing each other and uni- fied in one; the two political groups fight for one country, the two different football clubs fight in one match, and those sects blame one another under one religion. The concept of Bhineka Tunggal Ika as a unity is al- ready reflected in Gegerboyo as a body of collaborative project which successfully unites the diversity of its members –who artistically has different character of visualization from one another, but they are one,
under one same pennant, and it is Gegerboyo.


Selected Artworks
Installation View