“Yang Kelak akan Retak” (Which Will Eventually Crack) is anchored in the idea of following the trails of the Van Mook Lijn or Status Quo Line, a demarcation line that divides Indonesia region and legitimation of Dutch settlement right after Indonesia declared its independence in 1945. An investigation of the tip-end colonial history of Indonesia, specifically on the Van Mook Lijn or Status Quo Line to retrace the historical borders and archive the space started from Pesanggrahan Ngeksiganda, a building in Kaliurang, Yogyakarta that has been used as the place of this separation agreement by Komisi Tiga Negara (Committee of Good Offices) which consisted of Belgium (the representation of The Netherland), Australia (the representation of Indonesia), and US (the representation of United Nations) which led to the Renville Agreement in 1948, and through some underrated small-scale monument or monument-look-like which span around 500 kilometers from Central Java to East Java, Indonesia, such as: Monument Renville (Banjarnegara, Central Java), Tugu Renville (Kebumen, Central Java) and Status Quo Line (Malang, East Java).
The film involves local historians, local activists, and also the sculptor from each site of the monument as an attempt to emphasize the historical narratives that were built within the local people. This film then becomes contextual as the timing coincides with the Netherlands government’s acknowledgment of Indonesian Independence in 1945 that happened early 2023. This shift changes a lot of historical narratives and Indonesian-Netherlands relationship. The layers of complexities of its history interest me beyond its visual form: particularly its socio-political-historical context and reading after more than 70 years after the agreement by the local people.
This film was part of Artist-in Residence program of Hotel Maria Kapel supported by Gementee Hoorn, Mondriaan Fund, and Prins Barnhard Het Cultuurfonds. This film was presented in Your Gold is Not Our Glory, Hoorn – The Netherlands (2023) curated by Mira Asriningtyas, “Glued and Screwed #13”, Den Haag – The Netherlands 2023 curated by What You See Is What You Get Cinema (WYSIWG Cinema), and also presented in, Festival Film Dokumenter 2023 Yogyakarta – Indonesia (2022) curated by Wimo Ambala Bayang.