In a Landscape

Timoteus Anggawan Kusno’s charcoal drawings explore memory, power, and history, blending personal and collective narratives. Through obscurity and contrasts, they evoke a sense of familiarity and strangeness, inspiring reflection on the past and its lingering presence.

Timoteus Anggawan Kusno (1989), one of IFFR’s Artists in Focus, creates work that delves deeply into memory, dreams, and power. His films, often set in the present, explore how colonial oppression, social disruption, and regime change leave profound marks on bodies, minds, and societies. They challenge us to reflect on how the past shapes the present and how we construct collective memories.

Complementing his films, Kusno’s charcoal drawings in the series In a Landscape serve as meditations on these themes, with the landscape functioning as a metaphorical space that asks: How do you remember, and how do you forget? Shaped by memories gathered from individuals who lived through turbulent times in history, as well as colonial archival materials, these drawings navigate the subconscious, blending personal recollection with broader historical narratives.

The act of drawing with charcoal, much like filmmaking, plays with light and shadow to reveal what lingers in obscurity. Recurring motifs of animals, human figures, and landscapes connect the drawings to his films, creating a sense of ‘in-betweenness’ where familiarity and strangeness meet. Together, Kusno’s films and drawings invite reflection on the unseen, inspiring us to critically consider the shadows of the past and envision a brighter future.

– Eva Langerak