Sharp Objects
202516 min17+
Synopsis
This project follows the forgotten story of Keris Klungkung back to its origins and to its postcolonial relevance to Bali today, tracing the looting of the keris to modern day tourism in Bali. The film juxtaposes the “knowledge” of colonial archives against community-based knowledge and mythology, convoluting the understanding of what is preserved, what is dead, and what is lost. The artists apply a tangible intervention on the photochemical material they use for the film. This time consuming approach embodies the narrative of the labour intensive iron forging craftmanship of a keris blacksmith.
This film is a part of Beyond Provenance, a transnational initiative that explores how film and collaboration can reassess narratives around restitution of Indonesian cultural objects by the government of the Netherlands.
Credits
Director
Taufiqurrahman Kifu
Taufiqurrahman Kifu is an interdisciplinary artist who has also curated several art exhibitions. Currently, he serves as a selector and curator at ARKIPEL – Jakarta International Documentary and Experimental Film Festival, and the Artistic Director for Festival Film Tengah in Palu. His film, A Tale of the Crocodile’s Twin (2022), received a Jury’s Special Mention at the Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen in 2023. The film has also been screened at various other international festivals and presented at several academic forums and cinema conferences.
Hattie Wade
Hattie Wade (UK, 1993) is a research-based artist. Her practice stems from an interest in the dissemination of information, and a desire to counteract harmful dominant social and institutional narratives. She is interested in how past institutional violences are reproduced through legal and legislative frameworks, heritage protection, and the subtle permeation of these narratives through society. She critically researches, dismantles, and rebuilds to make tangible that which is not, taking the form of digital, video, and spatial work.
