Siko Setyanto

Darta, a man from an impoverished family, is rejected by the wealthy parents of the woman he loves. Desperate, he strikes a bargain with the Monkey King, performing a dark ritual to gain wealth. However, in doing so, he accidentally curses his wife and child to a life of suffering. Rooted in Indonesian mysticism, this universal narrative explores the insatiable hunger to become something one is not and the boundaries one is willing to cross to achieve it.

In a town where pleasure equals being possessed by spiritual beings, Bayu aspires to be the shaman of a trance party so he can fundraise enough money to prevent an impending eviction.

You step into "Ocean Cage" as if in a dream. On the island of Lembata, in Indonesia, the village of Lamalera is one of the last places in the world where whales are still hunted. From there, Chinese visual artist Tianzhuo Chen and Indonesian performer Siko Setyanto set out, in a hybrid ceremony where video meets dance, where trance encounters digital imagery, where Siko Setyanto becomes, in turn, divine, human, animist. Tradition and ecology, spirituality and inter-species symbiosis: everything is summoned in this visual, choreographic and sonic whirlwind.