Child Survival Strategies | melianthamuliawan

'Child Survival Strategies'

“For in every adult there dwells the child that was, and in every child there lies the adult that will be.”

― John Connolly, The Book of Lost Things

Child Survival Strategieskarya Meliantha Muliawan, terinspirasi oleh pengamatannya terhadap seorang gadis kecil di tempat Meli melakukan residensi seni di Yogyakarta. Sehari-hari ia dibawa oleh sang ibu yang bekerja sebagai asisten rumah tangga di sana. Hal ini pun mengingatkan Meli pada pengalaman masa kecilnya saat dia biasa dibawa orang tuanya ke tempat kerja mereka.

Adanya tuntutan bagi orang tua untuk mencari nafkah sekaligus menjaga anaknya, secara tidak langsung juga menghendaki anak agar mampu mengerti makna pekerjaan orang tuanya. Alhasil, sang anak harus berkompromi dengan situasi tersebut dan mencari cara untuk terus menyibukkan diri sementara orang tuanya bekerja.

Pengamatan dan pengalaman inilah yang kemudian dielaborasi Meli dalam tema karya Child Survival Strategies. Meli berusaha memahami cara anak-anak memanfaatkan kreativitas yang mereka miliki demi bertahan hidup di dunia orang dewasa. Tema Child Survival Strategies terdiri dari 5 seri strategi, yaitu Persona, Playing Hard to Get, No Paper Needed, Magic Marks, dan Wall of Memories.

Melalui ke-lima seri strategi tersebut, Meli menggambarkan perspektifnya mengenai cara seorang anak bertahan melewati rasa bosan. Seorang anak yang dengan daya imajinasinya berusaha menunjukkan eksistensi sekaligus independensinya, seolah tidak butuh orang dewasa. Kemandirian juga terkait dengan bagaimana anak-anak memaknai kebebasan serta menandai otoritasnya dalam menciptakan dunia idealnya sendiri di saat orang dewasa sibuk mengaturnya.

Teks oleh Vina Puspita

“For in every adult there dwells the child that was, and in every child there lies the adult that will be.”

― John Connolly, The Book of Lost Things

Child Survival Strategies, a work by Meliantha Muliawan, is inspired by her daily observation on a little girl who accompanies her mother who works as a housekeeper in a place where she stayed during her art residency program in Yogyakarta. This has reminded Meli of her personal childhood experience as she used to accompany her parents in their working time.

Parents are demanded to earn a living and raise children in the same time. Therefore, this indirectly requires children to understand about their parents’ job. As a result, children have to compromise with this situation and find their own ways to keep them busy while their parents are working.

These observations and experiences are then elaborated by Meli in Child Survival Strategies. Meli tries to recognize how children use their creativity to survive in the adult world. Child Survival Strategiesconsists of 5 series of strategies: Persona, Playing Hard to Get, No Paper Needed, Magic Marks and Wall of Memories.

Through these series, Meli describes her perspective on how children survive through boredom. Also, she portrays how children show their existence and independence using their power of imagination, as if they do not need adults. This independency is as well related to how children interpret freedom and mark their authority in creating their own ideal world when adults are busily controlling theirs.

Text by Vina Puspita