Residency Proposal

The modern world moves at an accelerating pace, drawing us into cycles of urgency and social expectation. In the effort to keep up, our connection to our surroundings often becomes fragile, sustained through constant productivity and performance. On Nikoi Island, Bintan, these demands begin to dissolve. Arriving barefoot, with diverse faces and skin tones, we are gently reminded that the most essential relationship is our connection to nature. Here, existence is not measured by output, but by attentiveness, recognizing that human continuity is inseparable from the rhythms and resilience of the natural world.

This residency is conceived as a dialogue with Nikoi Island, an act of listening to the island as a living space shaped by memory, rhythm, and local knowledge. Its small scale allows for intimate encounters, revealing subtle and often overlooked narratives that emerge from the meeting of cultures, experiences, and ways of living. Over the course of two to three weeks, these encounters will be translated into an interactive installation, accompanied by workshops as spaces for shared exploration and learning. The residency aims to create experiences that invite visitors to slow down, to engage with the island and its ecology, and ultimately to reflect on their own presence within it, cultivating a sense of wholeness, sufficiency, and a more conscious way of inhabiting the world.