that initiate cross-cultural conversations about inter-generational legacies
2017 – 2019
Surat-Surat
(Letters)
From 2017-2019, Rani P Collaborations will be developing Surat-surat (Letters). This is a performance inspired by love letters exchanged between the grandparents of lead artist, Rani Pramesti. Surat-surat (Letters) has had creative developments in Indonesia and Australia. This project has been supported by ArtsHouse’s CultureLAB as well as Creative Victoria. Rani P Collaborations is currently working to deliver the premiere of Surat-surat (Letters) in late 2019.
2015 – 2016
Sedih // Sunno
Co-presented by Metro Arts and Next Wave.
Sedih is Bahasa Indonesia for ‘sadness’. Sunno is ‘to listen’ in Fijian Hindi. Sedih // Sunno is a gentle invitation to listen to sadness.
Four artists accompany you through treasured heirlooms to reveal hidden family legacies. Collections of Indonesian Batik form intimate spaces in which to listen, as memories filter through a richly woven encounter with ritual, music and movement.
Rani sharing the story behind Sedih // Sunno, a gentle invitation to listen to sadness.
Sedih//Sunno trailer
2013 – 2014
Chinese Whispers
In 2013, under the mentorship of theatre maker, Chi Vu, and the support of the Emerging Cultural Leaders program at Footscray Community Arts Centre, Rani Pramesti began the creation of Chinese Whispers: a performance installation that investigated mass racial and gender-based violence that erupted across five major capital cities in Indonesia in 1998.
Pairs of audiences embarked on a gentle and meditative journey through an enveloping world of white fabrics as they listened to Rani Pramesti’s story of coming to Australia following this violence. The experience culminated in a conversation with an actor, whose role was simply to sit and listen to audience’s responses after they had been exposed to at times harrowing accounts of mass violence.
Chinese Whispers was supported by the Creative Victoria and University of Melbourne Faculty of VCAMCM Graduate Mentorship Scholarship and won Best Live Art as well as Innovation in Culturally Diverse Practice Awards at the Melbourne Fringe Festival 2014.