Gymnastik Emporium project was initiated by Irfanuddien Ghozali two months before the COVID-19 pandemic. He started this project by collecting archives around the practice of Senam Kesegaran Jasmani (SKJ). During the collection process, he also found gymnastics archives from the colonial and the Japanese occupation era. From there, a reading of the state’s control over citizens’ bodies through gymnastics emerged. Ari Dwianto (actor & director), Abdi Karya (actor & director), Muhammad Abe (producer), Kurnia Yaumil Fajar (visual editor), Vandy Rizaldi (sound designer) then joined forces to read the archives. Ari Dwianto and Abdi Karya interpreted the archives through the medium of the body, Vandy Rizaldi read through sound, Kurnia Yaumil translated it into a visual system and Irfanuddien Ghozali acted as the final harmonizer. A total of 21 short videos were uploaded to TikTok through the @gymnastikemporium account starting August 14, 2020.

This project was supported as part of Karya Normal Baru 2020 – Jakarta Biennale