Clayground: ‘Hear, Touch, Taste’ Workshop Series

Led by Elgea Balzarie, an artist from Jatiwangi art Factory (JaF), this workshop series will explore the role of clay, deeply rooted in JaF's research in the Jatiwangi region, as a medium that fosters community engagement and empowers the conservation of local lands. The workshops aim to contextualise artistic practices within the everyday life of rural areas, highlighting Jatiwangi, West Java, which is the largest tile-making centre in Southeast Asia, and connecting them to Manchester, the world's first industrial city, and its ecological transformation. Balzarie, representing JaF as an artist-in-residence at esea contemporary in July 2024, aims to collectively address pressing transregional environmental and land justice issues through this cross-cultural exchange with local participants in Manchester.

The three-part series will progress from an introduction to clay flute making, focusing on the act of hearing, to creating skin clay masks, centred around the act of touch, and culminating in a cooking session that engages the act of taste.

Each workshop is a standalone session but participants are welcome to attend as many as they choose.

The workshop begins with a presentation on the context of Jatiwangi in Indonesia, detailing the industrial expansion the local communities are facing and the various artistic strategies they employ to survive by embracing their primary natural resource: clay.

Participants will then engage in making a clay flute together and collectively humming, symbolising a connection between Jatiwangi and Manchester as they voice the earth's concerns.

In this workshop, participants will create clay masks using various types of soil and clay. They are encouraged to bring soil or clay from their surroundings. The session includes discussions on personal experiences with their soil and thoughts on self-care, linking the concept of self-care with an appreciation for the earth and natural resources. Following this discussion, participants will make clay masks using their soil, with additional types of soil from Jatiwangi provided.

This session will delve into the taste of clay through a series of engaging activities. Participants will take part in a ritual of eating clay, using baked clay sourced directly from Jatiwangi. Additionally, they will have the opportunity to craft their own personal clay plates. The highlight of the session will be a cooking experience featuring authentic Indonesian cuisine. Cooking together and sharing a meal is not only a central aspect of the local culture in Jatiwangi but also a vital means of fostering community, strengthening bonds, and celebrating cultural heritage.

All images courtesy of Jatiwangi arts Factory (JaF).

About Elgea Balzarie

Elgea Balzarie (b. 1997) explores positive psychology through various artistic approaches. Her focus is grounded in psychological development, exploring this through the medium of clay. Balzarie’s practice experiments with the materiality of this medium in order to connect with daily cultural needs, such as clay soap, masks, and skincare. In navigating human-environmental relations, her work revolves around activation through public programmes, gameboard psychology, community development art, social and mental health, and education.

Balzarie works with Jatiwangi art Factory (JaF), a contemporary art collective that celebrates local lands and their amalgamation with art and multidisciplinary collaborations, with their discourse centred on local life in the area of Jatiwangi, West Java, which is the largest tile-making centre in Southeast Asia. Jatiwangi art Factory examines the ways in which contemporary art and cultural practices can be contextualised with the everyday in rural areas, both in form and ideas.

Currently, Balzarie is the Director of Department Lovegood Production, the founder and a teacher of Bitebeat Learning Club, as well as part of the management team of Perhutana. Her recent experience includes being the Director of Jatiwangi art Factory in 2020.

About esea contemporary

esea contemporary is the UK’s only non-profit art centre specialising in presenting and platforming artists and art practices that identify with and are informed by East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) cultural backgrounds.

esea contemporary is situated in an award-winning building in the heart of Manchester, home to one of the largest East Asian populations in the UK. Since its inauguration as a community-oriented visual arts festival in 1986, esea contemporary has continuously evolved to establish itself as a dynamic and engaging space for cross-cultural exchanges in the British art scene, as well as in a global context.

esea contemporary aims to increase the visibility of contemporary art practices from the East and Southeast Asian communities and their diasporas. It is a site for forward-thinking art programmes that beyond exhibitions also include commissions, research, residencies, publishing, and a wide range of vibrant public events. esea contemporary values creativity, compassion, interconnectedness, and collectivity in implementing its mission.

Learn more at: www.eseacontemporary.org

Photo by Joe Smith.

Host or Publisher esea contemporary