11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

Etson Caminha performance 2024 / Image courtesy: The artist NOTES 1 There is, for example, currently no national gallery, no art school, and almost no government support for the arts in Timor-Leste; see Annie Sloman, ‘Living under attack in Timor-Leste: Arte Moris’, in New Mandala , 10 January 2022, <newmandala.org/living- art-under-attack-in- timor-leste-arte-moris/>, viewed June 2024. 2 See Sloman, ‘Living under attack in Timor‑Leste: Arte Moris’. 3 Etson Caminha, quoted in Nívia Cristovão, ‘Etson Caminha “walks” towards art since he was a child’, Diligente , 11 March 2023, <diligenteonline.com/ etson-caminha-para-a- arte-desde-crianca/>, viewed June 2024. BORN 1984, LOSPALOS, LAUTEM, TIMOR-LESTE LIVES+WORKS INDILI, TIMOR-LESTE Evolving over many years, Etson Caminha’s practice brings together sound and visual art in dynamic performances, a form of living art. Caminha nurtures a rich dialogue between Timorese musical instruments and traditions, and contemporary art, sound and social engagement. Encompassing pedagogical, festival and performance projects, Caminha’s experimental and multidisciplinary creations express his response to the post-conflict context of Timor-Leste, which has struggled for independence twice in recent history, once from Portugal in 1975, and again in 2002 from Indonesia. Caminha is an alumni of the renowned Arte Moris Free Art School, established in Timor-Leste’s capital, Dili, by Swiss-German couple Gabi and Luca Gansser and a group of young Timorese artists, following the violent Indonesian occupation of the country between 1975 and 1999. 1 A student of the school from its inception in 2003, Caminha developed a distinctive, experimental sound practice at this time using, quite simply, whatever he had at hand. Caminha plays bass guitar in the band Galaxy, founded the experimental group NOISE Timor and co‑founded the music festival LANTAVA in his hometown of Lospalos. He is also an educator, who taught music at Arte Moris to help young people navigate the psychological and social reconstruction necessary in the period following Indonesian occupation. 2 The artist’s practice involves the use of found objects, an interest that began in Caminha’s childhood, when he would lead his siblings to create music from sticks and building rubble in the absence of access to conventional instruments. The types of objects Caminha selects have since grown in complexity and meaning, and range from natural materials connected to place and a subsistence livelihood (hay, bamboo and rocks) to traditional Timorese cultural objects, such as sanan rai clay pots, buffalo skulls and the bamboo instrument lakadou. Caminha possesses sophisticated knowledge and expert talent with imported electronic instruments, together with a passion for learning traditional Timorese instruments. Caminha’s performances and installations explore national and personal identity as assemblages of traditional and adopted understandings and affiliations. His musical compositions and art installations combine significant traditional cultural elements, such as the Timorese tais (woven textile), alongside languages and lyrics central to his personal history. These include Fataluku, the local language of his hometown of Lospalos; Tetum, an Austronesian language used widely in Timor‑Leste; and the languages of colonising countries Portugal and Indonesia. For the Asia Pacific Triennial, Caminha presents an installation of some of the ‘found’ objects central to his work, together with three video works documenting his unique concept of music and sound. In Sounds of nature 2022, he plays a range of natural materials found in his backyard, using dried leaves and brittle sticks as percussive instruments. In LIAN UDAN akompanha ho LIAN SANAN RAI 2023, Caminha beats a spherical sanan rai clay pot with the flat of his hand. The artist’s respect for the unique music of the region is his way of reconnecting with Timor‑Leste’s culture and exploring what can be passed to future generations. Caminha wants the younger generations, who have been brought up in quite different circumstances to his own, to feel connected to these important vessels of cultural knowledge. The last video, Percussion with the twins 2023 exemplifies the importance of connecting youth with their culture. Sitting on a step outside their home, Etson Caminha and his sons use their hands, thong-clad feet and a wooden box stool to present a traditional percussive composition. Perceptively, the artist comments: The world already knows many forms of art, and to be able to create something unique, we have to go back to our roots, get to know ourselves to discover what we want in this world. 3 RUTHMcDOUGALL ETSONCAMINHA ARTISTS+PROJECTS ASIAPACIFICTRIENNIAL 68 — 69