by Kenta Kishi | 01 April 2011
Camp on Kampung Exhibition

Camp on Kampung Exhibition -Refugees of Future Cities- is the first exhibition of OHS (Operations for Habitat Studies, formerly Orange House Studio).
The aim of this exhibition is to share a contemporary issues and possibilities of “urban living environment” with wider audiences in Surabaya, through experimental research and expression in KAMPUNG in Surabaya, by knowledge and technique of design, architecture and art. The structure of this exhibition is designed as COMPLEX and it will consist of several public actions during one-week session (May 01-08, 2011), such as performance, exhibition of art works, movie screening, dialogical session (mini-symposium, talk show), workshop and other cultural events.

Through these multiple activities, diverse people from Surabaya and other cities in Indonesia, such as designers, artists, residents of Kampung, students, and other professionals will work and participate together on this Exhibition. All of actions and people in this exhibition will NETWORK each other, like a mutual relationship of spaces and people’s activities in Kampung.

We should understand that Surabaya now has been situating at a TRANSITION point for its multiple future visions. One will be a clear vision, like other major cities in the world. It will be realized by conventional way of urban development; we call it MASTER-PLANNING. The nature of this methodology can be defined as a process of “erasure and in-plant”. Problematic areas in city such as overcrowded and aging downtown like a Kampung will be clear-out and attractive images and spaces will be imported from ANYWHERE and pasted on this empty site. In this way, city will be realized as a huge attractive theme park, without vibrancy of activities in traditional local communities. Fortunately, we have not discovered other future visions of city in Surabaya.

This is an advantage of Surabaya’s future to invent an alternative methodology of urban development that could sustain Kampung-type community and its life style in contemporary city in future.

If we challenge to look for the future visions of city in this undiscovered way instead to choose and live in “Master-Planned” city, we must be a REFUGEE of future cities. We, all of residents in this world have a potential to be a refugee of the future. A function of this exhibition will be a PLATFORM to recognize, consider and share this emergent issue of our living. How refugees will be able survive now?

In the early progress of discussion for this exhibition, on March 11th, we received a critical information about Japan’s Earthquake and Tsunami disaster, and followed by nuclear accident. Also, we have already known about a large incrementation of new evacuees from Libya. Many people displaced by the disaster and accident have no home to which they can return. Refugees has a potential to develop their future. Beyond their tragic situation now, they will face the future and will shape it.

“Refugees of Future Cities” will also explore and develop a vision of our future living environment in city. Crises of community and/or living environment in city are usually latent in our daily life, and it is difficult to see. This exhibition will be a new eyes to recognize signs of these hidden crises of city. Exhibition will share strong sympathy and hope with those actual refugees in Japan, Libya and other locations.

This project has been invited to some exhibitions in Jakarta for this May and next year. Also, OHS is planning to bring this project to other Asian cities (in Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippine, Vietnam, China and etc), through the linkage and collaborative work with there local art/design organizations and institutions.

Three venues in Surabaya, for our exhibition.
From left: Kampung Plampitan, Kampung Lemah Putro and Kampung Tambak Bayan.