One of the most striking installations of the this year’s George Town Festival is Joko Avianto’ s Theatre of Ships. It is an extraordinary construction of bamboo poles representing abstract ships set against civic colonial buildings of George Town.
“My artwork is ephemeral,” says Indonesian artist, Joko Avianto. Very few sculptors work with bamboo because it is so short-lived. Joko, however, loves the unique look and feel of it, and enjoys the curiosity it arouses. He creates his art for public enjoyment rather than longevity and has developed a special technique to shape and bend the poles. Joko describes his Theatre of Ships as a public “theatre” for locals and visitors to come together and celebrate the enduring legacies of travel, trade and cultural exchange.
Joko is a veteran of large public installations – he loves the space and spectacle that they create. Situated between the Town Hall and City Hall on Jalan Padang Kota Lama, Joko’s sculpture refl ects two different elements of Penang’s culture. The site of the installation once housed an old theatre. Ships feature prominently in Penang’s maritime history. The bows of the ships are easily recognised. The different angles and heights represent the way that boats float at anchor. They rise and fall with the gentle movement of the water. Movement is a feature of the theatre also, and Joko has deliberately used this parallel.
Joko and a team of 14 labourers completed the Theatre of Ships in just four weeks. Over 3,000 pieces of bamboo, shipped in from Indonesia, were wired together in the cool of the night from 7pm to 3am. The installation is expected to remain in place for three to six months.
The Theatre of Ships is part of the Garden of Earthly Delights project, specially commissioned for the George Town Festival that features a series of pop up gardens and installations all over the city.
Read more:
"ExpatGo welcomes and encourages comments, input, and divergent opinions. However, we kindly request that you use suitable language in your comments, and refrain from any sort of personal attack, hate speech, or disparaging rhetoric. Comments not in line with this are subject to removal from the site. "
