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Victoria Cattoni - "Kebaya - South, South East"

Installation Performance
30-31 July 2001
Koskikeskus Shopping Centre, "Tampere 18th Floral Festival, Finland

"Kebaya - South, South East is part of an ongoing visual dialogue initiated last year for an International Performance event in Vilnius, Lithuania. The work presented in Finland is the third version of the work. Kebaya II - Back Ground was presented in Ubud as part of "Shul", an international Installation & Performance Event, in April of this year. The work changes significantly depending on its cultural context and physical location.

The starting point for the work is the video in which the audience sees 15 second takes of the torso of a Balinese woman making the final admustments to her 'baju kebaya', the National Dress for women in Indonesia, and the ceremonial dress for women in Bali. Seven women have selected kebayas from their personal collection. The video focuses on the object of clothing itself, its rich colour and motif, the torso of the woman, and the smallest and particular movements of each woman as she tugs, tucks and smooths her blouse paying attention to the outline and form of her body.

The installation is constructed from flower petals, mostly roses in this case. It is sometimes prepared in public with friends, other artists and members of the public welcome to join in the process, where appropriate. In Finland this took place over a day in the middle of a large shopping centre under the central atrium. It is a way of mimicking the 'collective' nature of many religious duties and customs of Bali, but more importantly a way to bring the audience into closer contact with the process of the work.

For the people who participate, they have the opportunity to be part of this work. This part of the process, with people sitting around and plucking petals is often very silent yet revealing in the feedback that participants voluntarily give me later. A shopping centre is not the most contemplative site to make art, yet it is a way of claiming the space back for an activity with a higher aim than material consumption. Ironically in Koskikeskus, many people sat at the Macdonald's tables which bordered the work, munching away on their Big Macs and Cokes while engaging with the performance.

During the performance which takes just over an hour, I begin by kneeling in front of the TV monitor. My dress is the Balinese Traditional dress in the same colours as the installation. I begin the performance in dialogue with the women I am watching on the video in front of me. At this point the dialogue is very real and acts as a model and anchor for the entire performance. I clothe myself with a second kebaya over the first, making my own adjustments, not so much copying the woman I am watching, but taking note. I continue in this fashion until I am wearing five kebayas. I leave the TV moving on my knees and in an anti-clockwise direction around the mandala continue the process of the installation.

A single kebaya is removed and placed on the floor and flour is sprinkled over the kebaya in a steady rythmic movement. The kebaya is removed to reveal the motif of the lace in relief, the mark of the body fraying at the edges. This is continued down to my last kebaya which I do not remove, and I return to the TV, having gathered my tools once more - the bowl of flour and the kebayas. After being seated in the kneeling position again for some minutes I repeat the whole process. The repetition continues until the mandala is completed, and over this time I gradually move from a crawling position to an upright standing position.

Upon completion I leave the installation. The work is left and gradually dispersed as people continue to move through the shopping centre, although the work was destroyed prematurely in this case when the new security guard came on duty and was seriously concerned about the art spreading throughout the shopping centre. I returned after lunch to see the entire work safely enclosed in a black plastic garbage with the cleaner sweeping up the remaining traces of petals and flour."

Victoria Cattoni, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Member - AIAA

Australian artist, resident in Bali, Victoria Cattoni was invited to present an installation and performance art work in Koskikeskus in Tampere, Finland as part of the 18th Floral Festival at Tampere. Victoria has been living and producing work in Bali since 1998, and prior to that in Australia from 1984. She has participated in several international art events in Bali including most recently, her involvement as intiator and artistic co-ordinator of "Shul" - a contemporary installation and performance art event, probably the first of its kind to be held in Bali.