Similar stories can echo through distance, manifesting in themes that resonate across borders. The legacy of coal mining in Newcastle, UK, and the ongoing mineral mining in Palu, Indonesia, both follow a narrative of land alteration for human gain. Videocity UK (Newcastle), Forum Sudutpandang (Palu), and independent curator Chiara Giardi (Jakarta) responded collaboratively to this reality through the project Extraction Echoes.
By utilising video art, the project seeks to explore the "echoes" of extraction: the social relations, material consequences, and digital footprints left behind. Through a combination of digital exchange and public exhibitions, the partners created a platform for artists from both the UK and Indonesia to interrogate a pivotal question: how can we rebuild a broken kinship with the land?
A multi-layered, cross-continental collaboration
Extraction Echoes was designed to go beyond a simple art exchange. The project was structured into three distinct phases: a targeted open call for artists, a sustained digital exchange, and a travelling public exhibition. Each phase aimed to highlight a diversity of stories while representing different geographical contexts.
The open call invited artists with connections to the North of England and Eastern Indonesia, with an emphasis on those living outside the dominant islands of Java and Sumatra. Following a rigorous selection process, the partners chose works by Sarah Adilah, Vania Qanita Damayanti, and Kristo Robot from Indonesia, alongside Sel MacLean, Jazmin Morris & Chris Tegho, and Amanda Loomes from the UK. These videos were selected not only for their connection to the theme but for the way they spoke to one another across cultures.
Building a community behind the scenes
While the ultimate goal was to exhibit work in public, the organisers also wanted to foster dialogue between practitioners from the two regions. A dedicated ‘Digital Exchange’ programme was established to facilitate these goals.
Over ten weeks, the cohort met online to discuss extraction within their local contexts and the responsibilities of artists working with sensitive socio-environmental topics. Logistical hurdles, such as unstable internet, time zone differences, and language barriers, did not deter the participants from forming a genuine community.
These conversations were recorded, harvested, and transformed into a collaborative Zine. This publication serves as a tangible archive of the cross-cultural dialogue, centering on the artists' thoughts, anxieties, and hopes regarding the ethics of extraction.
From cinema cafes to street screenings
Extraction Echoes was curated specifically for public spaces to meet audiences in familiar environments. By inserting video art into daily life, the project allowed the surroundings to co-create the experience.
The project launched in Newcastle with an opening screening at the Tyneside Cafe & Bar, followed by a spirited Q&A with the artists behind the video Coal. Here, videos were screened as cinema-goers enjoyed coffee, communities met for workshops, and office workers stopped for lunch.
Shortly after, the project travelled to Indonesia. In Palu, Forum Sudutpandang took a "guerrilla" approach, bringing videos to various public spaces across the city. These pop-up screenings culminated in a video art exhibition at the Marlah! Hub community space, which is considered a rare occasion in Sulawesi.
Jakarta served as the final stop, with screenings at the cafeteria, studio, and shop at Kongsi 8 community space near the bustling Jatinegara flea market. Curator Chiara Giardi opened with an introduction to the exhibition, followed by artist talks with Sarah Adilah, Vania Qanita Damayanti and Kristo Robot.
The following week, the exhibition space transformed into a site of creative response. The event featured an activation workshop led by Ika Vantiani, poetry reading by Berpuisi dengan Gembira, and live music by Jejak Aksara.
Ultimately, the local socio-cultural and geographical contexts played a key role in the project’s reception. Whether viewed through the lens of industrial heritage in the North of England, the rarity of the medium in Sulawesi, or the hidden costs of urban sprawl in Jakarta, the locations allowed audiences to relate personally to shared issues of pollution, climate change, and wealth inequality.
Harvesting a new kinship
Extraction Echoes demonstrated that despite vast distances, the challenges faced by communities in the North of England and Indonesia are strikingly similar. A recurring theme was how profit-oriented, corporate-driven practices sever our connections with the natural environment and local heritage.
The programme concluded with a reflection on our relationship with the resources we extract, whether natural, cultural, or digital. Drawing on the Sulawesi concept of gambiri—a communal practice of food storage and sharing—the collaborators proposed "harvesting" as an alternative to the capitalistic concept of extraction.
As artist Kristo Robot summarised: "Everything in this world is interwoven... humans, with all their actions, play a role in either weaving or unravelling the balance of nature. Each strand of unravelling thread represents a destroyed ecosystem".
