Enka Komariah

Enka Komariah

Artist Bio

Enka Komariah was born in Klaten in 1993. He graduated in the Graphic Arts department at Indonesia Art Institute of Yogyakarta in 2017. The strengths of Enka’s work includes transforming various mediums and imaginative narratives as the main idea of the work, often using drawing on paper. He often fools around with satirical and ironic symbols while simultaneously playing the boundaries between taboos and norms in the eyes of society. His interest to cultivate his own identity with agrarian tradition of Java Nan and juxtaposing it with contradictory popular cultural images, became a distinctive character in his work. Enka follows some art collectives including Barasub (comic), Gegerboyo (murals) and Beresyit (Illustrations).

Kidung rumekso ing wengi (Permohonan tengah malam)

This work was inspired by the song Mantra Wedha which is said to have been created by Sunan Kalijaga (the guardian of Islam prophets in the land of Java), as a form of petition against reinforcements. It can also be interpreted as a request to the Creator to avoid calamities such as the current pandemic. These songs are usually chanted at night, creating serenity, and act as a fence of protection for the people and the village, or certain other areas that they were in. Unfortunately, the ritual is no longer practised as much today as it used to be.

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