hcmf// and Perempuan Komponis: Forum & Lab are delighted to announce the four successful applicants selected to be artists-in-residence as part of Networking Archive: UK-Indonesia Contemporary Music 2024. Offering the opportunity to participate in international, music-interdisciplinary collaboration via a digital residency and in-person performances across both countries, the initiative invites early career women and gender minority artists to work with archives and develop a concert speaking to environmental sustainability and the climate crisis. 

The initiative will begin with a digital residency taking place online between May and July, during which the selected artists will focus on artistic research, engaging in active dialogue and exploring experimental works across different media. The digital residency will include sessions with mentors arranged by hcmf// and Perempuan Komponis. Following this, the UK-based artists-in-residence will join their counterparts in Indonesia to develop their artistic response and share a work-in-progress. The final presentation of their co-created work will take place as part of hcmf// 2024, running between 15-24 November.

Learn more about the selected residents below.

 

Arum Dayu (Indonesia)

Born in Solo, Arum Dayu’s creative career began as a photojournalist for Kompas. She has earned academic achievements in Communication Studies and Photojournalism, earning a Master of Visual Art at Bandung Institute of Technology. Her interest in photography has led to her involvement in several exhibitions, workshops, and art residences in Indonesia and abroad. She initiated study group Kami Punya Cerita in Tobucil and Klabs, Bandung, and manages Omnispace, an art collective in the same city. In music, she is a member of the bands Tetangga Pak Gesang and Syarikat Idola Remaja. One of her latest projects involves creating four songs written collaboratively by a group of women in Bangunjiwo, Yogyakarta, for Jogja Biennale 2023.

 

Debbie Armour (UK)

Working primarily with traditional song, musician Debbie Armour sings works motivated by persistence, resonance and deep cultural roots. In her primary collaborative project, Burd Ellen, traditional song is used as a foundation to build conceptual works, exploring tradition in an experimental setting. The group have released three albums to critical acclaim. Outside of Burd Ellen, Debbie is conducting a multilingual exploration of the social history of women’s labour in the UK. Additionally, she develops and delivers a variety of community projects using archival material to consider how communities are built, and cross-cultural, intangible heritage is shared. 

 

Maria Sappho (UK)

UK-based Newyorican artist Maria Sappho specialises in multispecies collaborative projects at the intersection of human-machine-organic communication. She is a pioneer of what she calls ‘transspecies listening’, where she develops an instrument building practice and compositional style for music with listening logics beyond that of the human. Her work is often made in partnership with the AI Chimere, which she continues to assist in developing, while also exploring sonic ecosystems with fungi. Beyond her work as a luthier and transspecies composer, Maria has also collaborated with ensembles around the world. Notably, she also serves as the current keyboard replacement for the Scottish post-rock band Mogwai.

 

Nadya Hatta (Indonesia)

Nadya Hatta is a pianist and composer based in Yogyakarta. She learned classical piano during her childhood but gradually became interested in exploring the piano’s sound with sound effects, transforming the piano into a versatile instrument capable of expressing a myriad of textures and tones. More recently, she has developed an interest in sound design. In addition to composing and paying in bands, she hones a solo practice, providing music composition for movies, art exhibitions, theater and dance performances. Her latest work involved creating scores for animation movie China, Beijing, I Love You!, covering the extraction of nickel and cobalt each side of the Indian Ocean.

 

All photos courtesy of the artist: Arum Dayu, Debbie Armour (MSC1 Photography), Maria Sappho, Nadya Hatta. 

 

 

Networking Archive: UK-Indonesia Contemporary Music 2024 is supported by British Council’s Connections Through Culture grant programme