Practising Duets #2: Anna Colin and Gudskul

Dr Anna Colin has worked as a curator for the past twenty years, whether in a freelance or institutional capacity. Her work is engaged with collaborative processes and cultural practices invested at local, social, educational, and environmental levels. Invested in counter-hegemonic spaces, histories, and figures, her practice straddles the curatorial, the pedagogical, the social, the ecological, and the horticultural. 

In 2013, she co-founded Open School East, an alternative art school and community space in London, then Margate, where she was a director for 8 years. Open School East formed a part of her PhD which, in exploring multi-public educational and cultural spaces in England since the late 19th century, unpacked the notion of the alternative in relation to governance, spatiality, and chrononormativity. 

Gudskul: Collective Study and Contemporary Art Ecosystem is a public learning space formed by three art collectives in Jakarta: ruangrupa, Serrum and Grafi Huru Hara (DHH). Since the early 2000s, the three. have been active in the field of contemporary art by exercising collective and collaborative work. n 2015. these collectives agreed to form a joint ecosystem to adapting values emerging from the collective process: equity, sharing, solidarity, friendship and togetherness. The objective of this learning space is to spread the elan of art-cultural work to individuals in order to spark initiative among the public.  

Anita Bonit is Program Manager Gudskul Ecosystem, Coordinator Subject Gudskul Collective Studies and Finance Manager Grafis Huru Hara – Printmaking Collective.  Bonit is one of the founders of the Grafis Huru Hara Community (GHH); a member of the food initiative group, Selarasa. focusing on issues of food sustainability, urban farmers and MSMEs; and a project manager for the Gudskul Ecosystem business unit at RURU Corps, now known as RUX.    

Tutik Indras Oktafia is the Librarian and Gudskul Archivist. With a background in library and information science, she initially did not have an art background and became interested in art since joining Gudskul. During her practice, Indras liked several topics such as literature, history, women’s issues, cultural exchange. Apart from archiving, he also helps a lot with administration and cooking in the kitchen. She is still looking for a way to combine archives management with artists and art collectives especially Gudskul.     

Gesyada Annisa Namora Siregar is a writer, curator and art organiser and has worked in ruangrupa since 2013. She has worked in ruangrupa since 2013 and began by being selected for the Indonesia Young Curator Workshop organized by the collective and Jakarta Arts Council. She is interested in supporting young artists, re-reading Indonesian Art Writing from 1940-1990, and explores archives, astrology, experiential storytelling, games, media, and public programming as an art pedagogical module.