Introduction to the Exhibition

"LITERACY ACROSS CULTURES"

Art and words both contain literacy functions. Literacy as a growing source of knowledge is often merely understood as cognitive skills such as reading and writing, although the sense of literacy itself has been confirmed as the ability of each individual to use their potential that is not limited to cognitive abilities. Nevertheless, all cognitive understanding gained through the process of literacy knowledge transfer will be important and have a relationship when it continues to the levels of communicating or creating. In this context, it means creating works of art.

We can observe the similarity between literacy in language and in art through their integrated functions and practices. Both teach us to be language literate and visual literate. Both rely on their main strength, which is the language. Language literacy is commonly known with verbal language or text in the form of alphabet and numeric. Literacy in fine art is with visual language or text in the form of objects of images, symbols, spaces and the like. This kind of literacy is what tends to be unfamiliar to our ears as visual literacy.

Visual literacy in the context of this exhibition is related to the process that each exhibitor goes through in presenting their work. It is about the process of transferring the knowledge through sensory perception, through objects, or through symbols or spaces that they see every day. The information is then transformed through the interpretations of each individual, then communicated again visually as information or knowledge that can be new or not, based on the experience or cultural background of each. There is no guarantee that each individual, having similar or diverse cultural background, will respond to the things they absorb in the same way and in the same form.

The concept of visual literacy referred in this exhibition is based on the individual's appreciative ability to respond to objects or information around them. "It’s an ability to critically analyze the form of content of visual materials." We all today live in an environment with many varied visuals, both in the real and virtual world. It is important for us to at least be able to interpret the visual. Developing this competency is not much different from the goal with other forms of literacy that rely on interpretation through reading or writing.

Visual or object creation in the form of images in this exhibition is aimed at learning objectives, namely accepting and understanding the cultural and historical differences of each individual. Although in this exhibition not all works will talk about their respective cultures, they can be a celebration of hybrid popular culture. How then these works are manifested is clearly rooted in the visual experience that was developed from childhood to their present condition.

Visual literacy presented in this exhibition comes with variant output. Some of them use poster language and digital graphics to communicate the results of their interpretations into a form of solicitation. The dominant one also comes in the form of paintings and drawings, some of which are very passionate because they are concerned about social reality in their respective environments. There are also images in the work that are quite calm and sad and poetic because they are not created in a chaotic situation, but rather more contemplative and multi-interpretative.

Other works are present in the form of print or graphic art, some of which try to describe the experience of the culture that they have since childhood to local knowledge gained as they learn to grow as individuals. There are also works that actually come from the process of visual literacy itself such as reread the art historiography aspect in the form of an appropriate visual reading. What is interesting in this exhibition are some of the works present a form of visual literacy genre that is very typical of Bali, namely prasi. Lontar surfaces that are scratched are generally treated like books that contain story scripts or writings in the form of knowledge and information about many things. But in the work of prasi, the object image will be more dominant and it illustrates an event. The prasi works in this exhibition come in a variety of styles in accordance with the artistic needs of each exhibitor which tends to be independent of the existing standards.

All the works present in this exhibition can show how the practice of visual literacy develops along with cognitive understanding whose concept is able to help each individual to manage their understanding of work principles and develop other sensory skills. Both visual literacy and other forms of literacy are an awareness for us to be able to critically evaluate how information in today's global world is becoming increasingly complex and competitive.

In addition to recording the process of a visual literacy, this Literacy across Culture exhibition is also intended to respond to events in the form of intercultural dialogue conducted by the Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha in the ICLAAC (International Conference on Language and Art Across Culture) event. As a response to a dialogical event that talks about Asian culture, this exhibition is expected to provide a momentum to interpret, to contemplate, and to have imagination to see how today's culture is interpreted by the actors, especially the exhibitors who are dominated by young people as the subjects of culture of today and tomorrow.

Singaraja,

Vincent Chandra