#ariesyarifuddin

This week we had the privilege of visiting Mary-Ann Schreurs, the municipal executive councillor of culture and innovation in the city of Eindhoven. The idea of the ‘Claynialism’ project according to Arie Syarifuddin is to establish meaningful connections for future collaborations. And so, the official Declaration of Claynialism between the city of Eindhoven and Jatiwangi in Indonesia was signed.

Arie Syarifuddin is one of the six participants during this years’ edition of Age of Wonderland. He is connected to the Jatiwangi Art Factory based in a roof tile manufacturing centre in West Java, Indonesia.

The term ‘Claynialism’ was coined by the artist himself: "Claynialism is an effort to redesign 'clay' with all its particularities as the cool yet humble identity of the district, especially for the youth". Clay became a part of the peoples’ identity and way of living in Jatiwangi. It is not just the fact that Jatiwangi has economically and culturally thrived by the export and production of ceramic roof tiles. The joint declaration also emphasises a deeper historic fact, as the Dutch were the ones who introduced this industry during the colonial era.

During his research period in Eindhoven, Arie is exploring the idea of how to use the fertile soil of his village as a basis for food. In order to do this, he is experimenting with different types of clay. He is focusing on the materiality and chemical analysis of clay (a basis for roof tiles) and how to make this into edible cookies.

Arief Yudi, founder of Jatiwangi Art Factory and representative of the sixteen villages of the Jatiwangi district, came to the Netherlands especially for this occasion. During the ceremony, which took place at the majestic city hall in Eindhoven, Arief handed over a piece of clay from Jatiwangi to the councillor. After they both read the declaration and signed the agreement, they enjoyed a clay cookie, baked by Arie. To conclude this brand new bi-lateral collaboration, Arie and Arief sang the Jatiwangi song to the councillor.