Co-Presence

The Back Room is proud to present its latest collaboration with Jakarta-based ara contemporary, Co-Presence. The exhibition explores the inseparability of self and performance, where the body and consciousness, like puppeteer and puppet, continuously shape and reflect one another.

Rooted in Iwan Effendi's practice with Papermoon puppet theatre, Co-Presence extends his exploration of presence, absence, and embodiment into a site-specific installation featuring a mixed-media charcoal mural and new paintings on canvas. Through simplified yet emotionally charged figures, the works evoke states of fear, wonder, and the unknown, unfolding like fragments of dreams or fairytales.

At its core, Co-Presence reflects on the body as both medium and narrative, blurring the boundaries between the living and the constructed, and testing how far the self can be dissolved into the act of creation.