Help Me Help You
When It Called Participatory
I play with fire. Those words always spinning in my head as I working in my final assignment. Thanks to my discomfort knowing how the art world works, I choose not to be an artist as I graduate later. It feels not right seeing someone become famous all by himself while lots of people didn’t understand what were things he was making. Especially here, in Indonesia, school didn’t provide their students enough art knowledge to understand the artworks or the importance of art. They might put art in the bottom lists of their study priority. Well, let’s just say the world keep running with its weird systems.
When many of my friends make their final project the way it should be: thinking about its concepts, do their works, then present it in exhibition; I include other people to participate, becoming part of my works. I knew that my project is quite different with other friends and it had its own challenge.
They were the people at Yayasan Kasih Anak Kanker Indonesia(Indonesia Care for Cancer Kid Foundation). Some of my friends sometimes jokingly said, “How cruel of you utilize them for your project.” Too lazy to explain, I only laughed.
But of course I am not utilizing them. The reason I chose them as my ‘subject’ because of the theme about Happiness and Quality Time that I picked for my final project. After more than a year I volunteer there, i realized that helping them, spending time playing with the kids create a different kind of happiness and quality time rather than I had in campus or at home which felt much good.
Those kids are sweet and beautiful, I already thought them as my little brothers. The staffs are very friendly and they’re welcoming me as part of their family though at first (years ago) it was a total awkward. Truth to be told, I am very grateful that they, in open arms, willing to help me with this project and allowed me to do some kind of ‘experiment’ and make a mess at their place.
Almost more than a month I came to the cancer house early and went home near sunset. At first I came as usual: helped the teacher taught the kids in the morning while at noon went to hospital, door by door lending the patients some books to read. In two weeks I brought some boards and acrylic wall paint to the house for them. The kids looked confused and excited at the same time when I said that they can paint anything they like. It was the longest time I had in record while doing a project or studied with them. The children often get bored easily, but that day, they can sit about more than an hour making pictures. It was amazing.
With the boards and the acrylic wall paint that I had, I should came up with every possibility of new ideas so they’re not getting aloof and could learn new things every time we work. We made prints from balloons and on the next day we learned how to use masking tape to make pictures. Then I made them a solution of soap and chinese ink to make pattern with straws. Until finally I had a thought, why it was me who always give while they’re not telling me what they want exactly?
That day I asked the staff what could they possibly want. Mrs. Ina, the chief of foundation said, “It would be nice if we could went out somewhere and play there.” Since college already in holiday mode, I offered them to come to campus and made some artwork there and she said happily, “That would be great! We’re going to have an outing! Please, schedule it well.”
At first I’m going to asked some friend to accompany me playing with the kids and let them paint with all the medium I already gave on the rest of the board. As I told a friend about this, he said, “Don’t. Give them something else, give them a new experience that they won’t get it in another place. Why don’t you use chalk, made some kind of chalkboard on the wall or something.”
His idea made me think that this might be a chance to unite the place and the people I worked with with the social circle i live in so my friends or the people I know could come to the cancer house, spend their time with the patients, and hoped they’re having the same quality time and happiness as how i felt. So i came up to include a discussion into this event; exchange ideas and share knowledge. Later I realized this event becoming more than using wall paint and making artwork at campus. It was bigger than I thought; suddenly I had so many tasks to do and I’m doing it alone.
A fear to start things first and asked for help
I was afraid and excited at the same time and I only had less than a week to do the preparation. If I could, I would like to multiple my self, but I couldn’t. I’m just ordinary human being who have two legs, two arms, two eyes and I can only handle one thing at a time. I’m no good at multitasking so I tried asking some of my friends via text to help me.
Part of me said that they’re not going to come. Part of me said they’re not willing to help. Part of me said you’re going to do this all by yourself. Surprisingly, most of them said, ‘Yes, i can help you.’ How happy I am when I heard that. They helped me blacken the wall and wrote the event’s title with chalk. They helped me to give the children and people from the foundation a ride back and forth from the house to campus. They helped me to prepare the place for discussion from sound and projector installation.
At D-1 I met volunteers from AISEC at cancer house. He sounded enthusiast as I told him about tomorrow’s event. He said he’s going to invite the foreigners to come and play with the children. How lucky of me. At least I don’t have to worry about who will the children play with while I should run the discussion; because somehow I know most of my friends won’t come since the event was too early for them (it started at 10 a.m. and I believe most of my friends were still asleep)
Main Bocah started about half an hour late. The kids and their parents played with the foreigner. Some of my friends who came late were standing confusingly didn’t know what to do. Some of them were having a great time with their own world; some of them were watching from afar. We let the kids kept playing and singing while half an hour later we started the discussion.
Though maybe it was only about twenty person who came (excluding the participants from the foundation and AISEC), the discussion run smoothly. I invited Teh Ari as an interviewees to share her knowledge about art therapy and Mrs. Ina as a representation of the foundation. There was a Q&A session and surprisingly there were people who willing to ask! Actually I couldn’t concentrate that time and I don’t know what to do as a moderator. I had lots of thing in my mind and I don’t know what it was.
After the event had done, we took the children back to the cancer house. On my way to my home, tears suddenly fell from my eyes. It was weird. I wasn’t sad, I was happy as hell. The amazing experience I’ve got from making this project somehow made me reached some kind of achievement: being a noble person. I was so grateful that my friends came and participated. I couldn’t say anything but thank you.
Making a participatory project made me realized that I couldn’t do this all by my self. We need to believe in our friends to get things done, though you still have control of it. Sometimes you shouldn’t expect too high about how many person who will come; you just had to sit down and see how the magic works.
