Nandur Srawung Taman Budaya Yogyakarta #13 2026

Ipeh Nur presents Silent Song (2026) at Nandur Srawung Taman Budaya Yogyakarta #13 2026. An artistic research project examining the colonial history of the Hongi Tochten, punitive expeditions conducted by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) to monopolise the spice trade in the Moluccas. Centred on the Afo clove tree in Ternate—afo meaning “old” in the local language—the work approaches the tree as a silent witness to histories of violence, displacement, and cultural rupture.

Through oral histories, songs, and environmental recordings gathered in Ternate and among the Moluccan community in Hoorn, the project traces how memories of colonial violence have been transmitted across generations. These histories recount the destruction of spice trees and villages under VOC rule, alongside the displacement of Indigenous communities. They also resonate with contemporary struggles against extractive industries that reproduce colonial patterns of exploitation. 

Developed during a residency at Hotel Maria Kapel, the project takes the form of a sound installation emanating from a sculptural representation of the Afo tree. Incorporating songs composed from research in Ternate and collaboratively written with the Moluccan community in Hoorn, the work gives voice to memories often left unheard. By bringing human and non-human histories into relation, Silent Song reflects on the enduring ties between ancestral knowledge, cultural identity, and the ongoing struggle to reclaim disrupted roots.