IN SITU: Lifepatch – The Tale of Tiger and Lion
Lifepatch is a community-based organisation founded in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in 2012. They organise cross-disciplinary practices, bringing art, science and technology into dialogue in order to develop the useful application of technological, natural and human resources in their region. As with many of the artistic collectives in Indonesia, collaboration and interdisciplinarity are at the core of their work.
Their project for M HKA titled The Tale of Tiger and Lion focuses on the relations between two key figures of Dutch Colonial history in Indonesia – Hans Christoffel and Si Singamangaraja XII. At the beginning of the 20st century, the Swiss man Christoffel was employed as a Captain in the Royal Dutch-Indies Legion with the task of assassinating tribal kings and leaders in Indonesia. His “cat-and-mouse” with Si Singamangaraja, spiritual and political leader of the Batak people in Sumatra, became legend, giving Si Singamangaraja the status of national hero. Si Singamangaraja (meaning “Lion King”) was eventually killed during his guerilla resistance to Christoffel’s so-called “Tiger Legion”.
Christoffel travelled to all parts of Indonesia collecting weapons and artefacts from the tribes that he slayed. He eventually settled in Antwerp after marrying Adolphina van Rijswijck, daughter of the mayor Jan van Rijswijck, and later donated his collection to the Ethnographic Museum in Antwerp. For their exhibition, Lifepatch present a key selection of these artefacts, together with new artworks considering these two figures and their remarkable intertwined story. Their exhibition brings to light the competing narratives at play in the machinery of power and colonialism.
The exhibition started from research into Christoffel’s collection now at The MAS (Museum Aan de Stroom) in Antwerp. After examining the collection in the museum, Lifepatch continued their research in North Sumatra to collect other narrations related to the Si Singamangaraja, Christoffel, and the Dutch occupation in the region. Lifepatch discovered that though many of the historical artefacts are stored in museums abroad, the related stories still live in the North Sumatra people. The fact that people still believe and told stories related to this history, despite the lack of artefacts, raised questions on truth. Should the truth be verified by objects, or is truth similar to belief and thus does not need physical proof? Is the version offered by the museum more reliable than the version of people in North Sumatra?
In The Tale of Tiger and Lion, Lifepatch present the findings of their research, incorporating historical artefacts, artworks and archival material, together with a narration linking all the exhibits, seeking to bring the complexity of this history to the fore.
The IN SITU programme at M HKA offers medium-scale monographic exhibitions by significant early- and mid-career artists from around the world. It focuses on the commissioning of new works, foregrounding experimental practices in what is M HKA’s largest and most atypical exhibition space.
Lifepatch are presented at M HKA within the framework of Europalia Indonesia.
The exhibition is developed in collaboration with AIR Antwerpen and MAS – Museum aan de Stroom.
Curator: Nav Haq, Senior Curator – M HKA
Items
An entity of spirit / Gajah Dompak replica, 2017
An entity of spirit / Gajah Dompak replica
It is told to the people of Batak that Si Singamangaraja XII held a special sword that is hereditary. It can only be used by those chosen by Si Singamangaraja himself. The sword, named Gajah Dompak, has two combined blades with the sharp edges on the inside, facing each other. Unlike other weapons, the Gajah Dompak is not designed for the purpose of killing. Rather, it is a symbolical weapon of peace and can be seen on the flag of the Si Singamangaraja dynasty. The Gajah Dompak is considered to be a mythical or even conceptual sword, as its physical existence cannot be proven.
Tropical Spices – Aroma of Peace
The Dutch tried to conquer Sumatra for rather a long time as, in comparison to Java, it was considered to be the future of agricultural business and natural resources. The Aroma of Peace incense carries the message that many commodities are a gift of nature, which were originally used by people as spices for health, rituals and customs, as well as in religious practices. This aroma is the scent of peace and mutual respect, rather than the reason for brutality and violence.
Artefacts
Collecting artefacts can be considered the documentation and archiving of history. On the one hand, it is a form of recording that can tell what happened in the past. On the other hand, it reveals many things, from the bad to the good, for considering the future.
Collection of flags
These penants are closely related to local knowledge in regions of Indonesia of natural dyes. The penants are made using a natural tye-dye technique based on the three main Bataknese colours: red, black, and white. Tie-dye techniques are complex. Traditionally, Bataknese people, like many other tribes in Indonesia, used this technique in daily life. But today, people are less familiar with the technique due to increasing detachment from local knowledge.
From Toba to the World
Writing on a postcard is a simple way of expressing a brief and unique message. During the process of this exhibition, communities in North Sumatra and the Toba people in particular, participated in this work either directly or indirectly. The messages in these postcards are ones that represent their knowledge and expectations on the history of their ancestors and their present-day culture.
In the Name of Light
Stencil on transparent plastics
There were several forms of colonial occupation in North Sumatra, especially in the case of Si Singamangaraja XII’s resistance. The culmination of colonialism as well as the Zending (Protestant Christian Missionaries from Germany) caused profound crisis and change in the Batak Lands, as the colonial occupation accelerated the spread of Christianity in North Sumatra. The flags represent the layered and converged missions of the Zending and the Dutch colonists in their conflict with the indigenous culture.
This type of cannon - ‘Rentaka’ in Malay- can be found in a variety of sizes, from 25 to 250cm. It harks back to a Portuguese Man-o-war cannon of the 16th century. It had many functions in the region: to signal, to support festivities, as a form of currency or dowry. But in Aceh, its primary use was exacting toll from the ships in the Strait of Malacca. In 1600 the first female Admiral of the Achenese fleet, Malahayati, was responsible for inflicting heavy losses to the Dutch warships. From then on, the British and Dutch respected the Sultanate for a long time.
Lucid memories
These holographic works depict the prestigious career of Hans Christoffel. However, it was precisely during this time when he had his shining reputation that Christoffel decided to resign from the military. He distanced himself from his old life and attempted to bury his story of bloody war and cruelty. His life changed under the influence of his wife, turning away from colonial violence towards pacifism and religion.
My Message to Tanah Toba , 2017
My Message to Tanah Toba
Using these postcards, the Lifepatch collective encourage visitors to engage by writing their own message in response to the messages from Toba, as well as to the intertwined story of Hans Christoffel and Si Singamangaraja XII. The messages will be delivered to North Sumatra.
Photo series from MAS and KITLV archives
The stories of Hans Christoffel, The Royal Dutch-Indies Army (Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; KNIL) and specifically Christoffel’s Maréchaussée force known as the ‘Tiger Brigade’, are well documented. This photo series show how the forces prepared logistically for mobilisation in the Gajo-, Alas- and “Bataklanden” (Lands of the Batak) in the Aceh region of Sumatra. They were well prepared for their special assignment in Sumatra to track down the Toba Batak leader, Si Singamangaraja XII.
The Stainless Priest (Pendeta Tanpa Noda)
Si Singamangaraja XII inspired various iterations of his story, especially on the circumstances of his death. During Lifepatch’s research in North Sumatra, they encountered at least five different stories of how he and his family died in the battle. There was however one element they encountered that was common to all the stories, which was that Si Singamangaraja XII had an immortal power that can only be diminished through physical contact with blood. It was told that Si Singamangaraja XII lost his power due to being stained by the blood of his daughter when he was holding her.
Reimagination
Using one’s imagination is one way to visually re-present a historical character. There is no photo documentation of Si Singamangaraja XII. Rather, the archives and the documentation of historical heroes in Indonesia tend to be formed and stored through oral historicisation. Lifepatch met a number of artists in the Batak lands of Sumatra, asking them to make a portrait of Si Singamangaraja XII.
Tarombo
After the death of Si Singamangaraja XII, the Tiger Brigade led by Hans Christoffel captured his remaining family. Many of his children, especially the male, were cast away from their homeland to diminish the influence of successors to Si Singamangaraja, who might carry a new threat of resistance in the future. The Tarombo or family tree of the Batak is a method to trace the remaining lineage of Si Singamangaraja. Lifepatch received the Tarombo from his great grandchildren who live today as commoners.
Tiada Awal Tiada Akhir (The non-existence of the beginning and the end)
Two-channel video
Today's technology and media enable people not only to learn about past and the present events, but also to question them. The left footage is about the places where Si Singamangaraja XII was born and grew up in the Bakkara Valley on the shores of Lake Toba, and the right footage is from Sionom Hudon on the banks of a small river in a mountainous forest area where he perished after being ambushed by Christoffel’s brigade. During Lifepatch’s research period in North Sumatera, they learnt that people in North Sumatra, especially those living in Bakkara Valley and Sionom Hudon, still have a strong memory of Si Singamangaraja XII. The quotations in the video are taken from their lines on him.
Tribute to Boru Lopian, 2017
Single-channel video of Marsiteka Performance documentation
The performance is inspired by Boru Lopian Sinambela, one of the daughters of Singamangaraja XII, who joined the war and died together with her father and two brothers. In Indonesia, she is a little-known hero, yet one who as a teenager is considered to have possessed great courage. From various stories, there are two main understandings about her belligerent involvement in the struggle that Lifepatch wish to highlight. Firstly, she offered prayer and guidance of which direction to go during a state of trance. Secondly, she took up arms and fought in the battlefield. Thus, the artists wish to understand Boru Lopian as being one of the key figures in the Batak war led by Si Singamangaraja XII.