No matter how hard i’ve tried, I just can’t. Yesterday for example, I got a chance to watch a work by Garin Nugroho, Opera Jawa. I met the person myself, younger than I thought really. The synopsis goes like this (from the youtube page).

Setyo and Siti live a peaceful life as husband and wife, selling earthenware in their village. But when Setyo is called away on business, a flirtatious butcher, Ludiro, takes advantage of Siti’s loneliness to seduce her. Tempted by song and dance, Siti initially refuses his advances but acquiesces in a moment of weakness, setting the stage for an epic battle between the two men. Located in lush forests and on pristine beaches of Java, director Garin Nugroho bases his deeply imagistic and dazzling visual narrative on the “The Abduction of Sita,” from the Hindu epic, The Ramayana.

Opera Jawa is featured in Global Lens 2008, a U.S. based touring film series presented by The Global Film Initiative. Global Lens 2008 showcases ten feature films from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

It was quite good, I must say. But the thing is, Why like that? Why doing such weird, unnecessary stuff like that? Why can’t it be more simple? But hey, it just me Everytime I see an art performance (real art, not modern art), all I want to say is :

A few weeks ago I went to this amazing hip hop art performance at Taman Ismail Marzuki, starring this two guys Raphael Hillebrand and Sebastien Ramirez. The event itself, held by Centre Culturel Francais (CCF) and Goethe-Institut. How can I describe an art exhibition? very unlikely Just see it for yourself. Here’s a few highlights.

Of course, it’s a lot better if you seen it live. This is another one that looks a like, The Art of Urban Dance, Locking then Popping.

Another one, check out the girls

And this is one of my favourite bboys battle of all time, Korea final, Rivers vs Drifters.