Researched and speculated on the North Sulawesi where once belief that the first person was a woman and gave birth through a stone, Wa’anak Witu Watu investigates the fiction, myth, and cosmology of the Minahasan and their relation to the geo entity stone. The indigenous practice of Minahasa tribe—where humans celebrate their form of communication with stone—is understood as only a pre-institutionalised religion practice and categorised as animist belief. However, for people living there, they see themself practicing monotheism. There are almost no boundaries between Life and Non-Life in Minahasa cosmology.
Natasha Tontey
Natasha Tontey is an Indonesian artist. Her artistic practice predominantly explores the fictional accounts of the history and myths surrounding “manufactured fear”. In her practice, she observes any possibilities of other futures that are projected not from the perspective of major and established institutions, but a subtle and personal struggle of the outcasted entities and beings. Her recent exhibitions including solo show at Auto Italia, London (2022) and group shows at Singapore Biennale (2022), GHOST;2565 (2022), Protozone8 Queer Trust (2022), Arko Art Council Seoul (2022), Leeum Museum of Art (2022), transmediale (2021), Singapore International Film Festival (2021), and Asian Film Archive (2021).
A solid and inanimate object without any significance. That may be the line some of us use to describe stones. However, in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, there are stories and mysteries with stone taking a center place, elevating them to a completely different level. They believe the first human to be a woman who gave birth…
