Edouard Malingue Gallery is thrilled to announce the very first solo exhibition in the UK of Tromarama curated by Ying Tan in collaboration with Open Eye Gallery. Part of the Liverpool Biennial fringe programme, Tromarama will transform the interior of an ordinary private residence into an enigmatic, reflective space. Together, through moving image, sound and juxtapositions of domesticity, they provide an exploration of how the digital world redefines our existential existence. Tromarama is a collective formed in 2006 by Febie Babyrose, Herbert Hans Maruli and Ruddy Hatumena. Graduating from the Institute of Technology in Bandung, the three are among the first generation of artists who were confronted with the impact of the digital revolution in Indonesia during the early 2000s. This exhibition presents a selection of recent animations and lenticular prints, as well as a new work, which was created especially for the occasion.

The exhibition features animations that combine HD photographs of animated objects, such as shoes, suitcases, desk lights and wires, with images of the urban Indonesian landscape. Although each work exists in a seemingly foreign public sphere elsewhere in the world, it interacts with a private one that we, the audience, all possess ourselves. They activate otherwise impossible narratives within a domestic space, behind a closet, through a bedroom window, inside a kitchen cupboard. A new work highlights the playfulness of tea making, an otherwise mundane and joyful ritual undertaken countless times in everyone’s daily lives in the UK.

Play, in the sense of ‘fresh, intriguing and humorous’ pulsates through the body of Tromarama’s practice, which combines video animation with music and installation. Each work, rather than existing in viewership isolation, is woven into the larger social fabric of the things we do both inside and outside our homes.

At the heart of Tromarama’s practice is the creation of an inclusive narrative through the use of form and colour, objects and figures, sounds and rhythms. Each work literally animates the ordinary and weaves its existence into a tale of tribulations fuelled by consequence. As such, their work infuses the ordinary with novel means of contemplation in the context of urban life, developments and political reverberations.

Tromarama are widely considered one of Indonesia’s most exciting rising talents and have been exhibited around the world. They have held solo exhibitions at the Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam, 2015), National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne, 2015) and Mori Art Museum (Japan, 2010), amongst others. Group exhibitions include the Frankfurter Kunstverein (Frankfurt, 2015), Samstag Museum of Art (Adelaide, 2014), APT 7 QAGOMA (Brisbane, 2012) and Singapore Art Museum (Singapore, 2012).

Founded in 1977 Open Eye Gallery is an independent not-for-profit photography gallery based in Liverpool. One of the UK’s leading photography spaces, Open Eye Gallery is the only gallery dedicated to photography and related media in the North West of England. Open Eye Gallery has consistently championed photography as an art form that is relevant to everyone. It promotes the practice, enjoyment and understanding of photography by creating challenging and entertaining opportunities to experience and appreciate distinctive, innovative photographs.

Ying Tan is a UK-based curator with a concern for negotiating sites of cultural specificity in her practice. She is currently the curator at the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (CFCCA). She has curated numerous exhibitions at the CFCCA, in addition to many other off-site projects in London and internationally. This includes the co-commission of Haze & Fog with Cao Fei (2013), as well as UK premieres of What Happened in the Year of the Dragon (2014) with Sun Xun and Xu Bing’s Book from the Ground (2003-present). She is a visiting lecturer for Christie’s Education (UK) and a contributor to KALEIDOSCOPE Asia Magazine. She is also on the curatorial faculty for Liverpool Biennial.