Presented by Melbourne Festival and Multicultural Arts Victoria in association with Playking Foundation

GROBAK PADI (Australia/Indonesia)

An intimate exchange between cultures and cities through a multimedia fusion of food, film and dance, grobak Padi is a little piece of Java manifested in the heart of Melbourne.

For five days of the Festival, a delegation of gerobak food carts from the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta wend their way through Melbourne, bringing the flavours and culture of Java’s bustling street scene directly to our CBD.

Based at the vibrant Foxtel Festival Hub, grobak Padi brings together free multimedia art installations and contemporary dance with authentic Javanese street food – sold at modest prices – creating a cross-cultural dining experience like no other.

Like a staple diet for the soul, the rice of the padi field symbolises a way of life in Indonesia. Its humble sustenance reminds us to say thank you for the abundance we already have. While several gerobaks remain at the Festival Hub displaying video art inspired by the padi, others set out across the city, dispensing delicious Indonesian food. As they serve the hungry people of Melbourne, the carts show live video of gerobaks plying their trade in Yogyakarta, fostering an amicable culinary and cultural bond across the Timor Sea.

After sunset, the roving carts return to the Hub to serve up a free outdoor event featuring accomplished dancers Agung Gunawan and Tony Yap, with video-art by Michael Hornblow, transforming the space through the imagery, sound and movement of Indonesian life.

A deliciously cross-cultural performance piece, grobak Padi provides a unique opportunity to discover an ancient culinary tradition first-hand, and to experience the spirit that lies at the heart of today’s Indonesia.

Download the grobak Padi program brochure.


Credits

Produced & Presented by Multicultural Arts Victoria
Devised by Michael Hornblow, Tony Yap (tyc) and Agung Gunawan
Choreographed & Performed by Tony Yap, Agung Gunawan
Creative Producer & Video Installation Artist Michael Hornblow
Cooks Indonesian Community of Melbourne
Melbourne Technical Producers Cake Industries
Indonesian Production Manager Bimo Suryojati

Supported by City of Melbourne, Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia, Australia-Indonesia Institute and Performance Klub (Yogyakarta).
Multicultural Arts Victoria is proudly supported by the Australia Council for the Arts, Arts Victoria, City of Port Phillip and the City of Melbourne.
Photo: Edwin Roseno

Supported by

   

Download the grobak Padi location map and menu here.

Kedaulatan Rakyat newspaper article,  Yogyakarta, 20 July 2012?

Translation:

Performance at Melbourne Festival
FOOD CARTS HAVE “THE SPIRIT OF OPENNESS”

In Australia, foods carts cannot trade just anywhere. Unlike Indonesia where carts can trade anywhere and serve any food. That’s why Australians that have enjoyed eating from sidewalk carts on the sidewalks in Indonesia have enjoyed much more than just a full stomach.

“At a food cart, all classes meet, and a spirit of openness happens, where we can talk to each other while we eat,” says Michael Hornblow, a Creative Producer from Multicultural Arts Victoria while speaking with KR at one small restaurant in Tamansari on 18 July in the afternoon. Michael is in the middle of preparing visuals which will be used with dancer Agung Gunawan and satay carts. The visuals will be shown at the Melbourne Festival this October. The video will be shown while people enjoy food from carts that have been brought from Indonesia.

“It will be just like enjoying food while watching the atmosphere of Alun Alun of Yogyakarta” says Michael. For that, Agung is collaborating with Tony Yap for a dance performance called “Gerobak Padi”. Tony is a Malaysian dancer that has resided in Australia for a long time. Their dance will be complemented with a visual installation made by Michael so it will be a multimedia installation.

Ten food carts will be brought to Melbourne. “the Gerobaks are in the middle of being finished at my home,” says Agung who comes from Manisrenggo, Klaten. The carts that will be brought will be selling satay, bakso and other kinds of food. The interesting thing about gerobaks is they bring a marginal element. Just like the name of the performance it shows the close spirit between rice and the gerobak. “Political issues that sometimes think Indonesia could be better, disappear as the spirit of openness appears with the gerobak” says Michael.

Dates

Wed 17

Tickets

FREE

Venue

Foxtel Festival Hub
Under Princes Bridge,
on the banks of the Yarra.

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