Parallel Walking is a walk-based cultural exchange exploring two cities – Birmingham, UK, and Yogyakarta, Indonesia – as part of the British Council's Connections Through Culture programme. A parallel exhibition will launch in both cities in February, starting 5th February, and a zine on 12th February 2022.
Key links
- News release: Parallel Walking launches in UK and Indonesia – exhibition details, media images
- Project announcement: Walkspace's first funded project
- Zine download link – click to view/download.
Exploring culture through walking
The full project title is ‘Parallel Walking: Between Here and There, Between the Seen and the Unseen’.
Like Birmingham, Yogyakarta is a ‘motor city’ where walking is secondary to the car/motorbike/moped, where public space has been eroded by private interests, and where the infrastructure of the city can make walking feel unsafe for pedestrians. These were just a few shared themes we identified in our talks.
In December 2021, three artists/participants in each city walked in parallel, gaining insights into their own cities to share with each other through an editorial exchange process resulting in a zine and exhibition.
Through individual and group walks, the aim was to hold up a mirror to each other’s cities as part of a cultural exchange.
A walk-based exchange
Jalan Gembira is a female-led walking practitioners group based in Yogyakarta, Java. The name translates as ‘happy road’ and reflects the enjoyment they have recently discovered from walking and exploring their city.
Walkspace is a Birmingham-based collective of artists, writers, psychogeographers, photographers, creative practitioners and walkers who use walking as part of their practice.
Each group sourced three artists/participants to take part in the project. The mix of participants includes an illustrator, curator, archivist, musician, filmmaker, writer and walking artists. Together they explored the identified themes through their own practices, perspectives and while walking in parallel in their cities.
The artists
Yogyakarta
- Deidre Mesayu – illustrator
- Kurnia Yaumil Fajar – archivist, author and co-founder of photography publication collective SOKONG!
- Riksa Afiaty – curator
Walking as a group, they explored the area of Ratmakan, a riverside neighbourhood that is being redeveloped for tourism in Yogyakarta. Together with Jalan Gembira the artists are creating collaborative pieces for the zine through workshopping.
Birmingham
- Andy Howlett – mapping the city's ‘pedestrian portals’ through experimental group drifts
- Beth Hopkins – exploring public/private access to Birmingham's Chad Brook river to create a musical score
- Fiona Cullinan – walking a series of alleys, walkways and footpaths alone to explore subjective female safety algorithms
Parallel Walking zine and exhibition
The Walkspace-Jalan Gembira exhibition launches from 5th February 2022 with a parallel/mirrored exhibition in both cities. The zine (digital and print) will launch online a week later on 12th February with artist presentations.
Jalan Gembira will host its exhibition on pos kamling (community watch posts) in the neighbourhoods where they walked.
Walkspace will host its exhibition at Artefact in Stirchley by recreating an indoor pos kamling in the gallery.
The UK exhibition will run 5-19th February 2022; the Indonesia exhibition from 10-15th February 2022.
Schedule of events
- Sat 5 Feb, 7pm – launch night drinks and nongkrong at Artefact Gallery, Stirchley
- Sat 5 Feb, 2.30pm – Nongkrong at Artefact Pos Kamling followed by a short walk around alleyways, cut-throughs, tunnels and footpaths of B30 with Fiona Cullinan
- Sat 12 Feb, 10am-12 – online zine launch and presentations, with UK-ID interpreting and sign language. Download the Parallel Walking zine.
- Thurs 17 Feb, 7pm – Walkspace film night with Andy Howlett at Artefact Gallery, Stirchley
- Sat 19 Feb, 12 noon – experimental group walk with Andy Howlett, meet at Lancaster Circus under the flyover, Birmingham city centre (map)
#BritishCouncilCTC #CultureConnectsUs
