Camilio

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The exhibition “UNITED COLORS OF TIMOR-LESTE| Prototype 001”, by conceptual artist Camilio Van Lenteren. The installation, made up of a suit and 18 pieces of Tais fabric (which where used to ake te suit), hand woven throughout the country, represent Timor-Leste as a whole in a single piece: a Tais suit. The author ansered written questions to Diligent the essence of the work “in which most of the women who weave such fabrics and the linguistic groups they represent are represented” and emphasizes that “in a country dominated by male politicians, where the rights of women, girls and of children are still not guaranteed, it is necessary to appeal to the Government to do much better”

When did you first arrive in Timor-Leste and why Timor?

I arrived in Timor-Leste in June 2019. I chose Timor because it is the second youngest nation in the world, with a very colorful history, culture and art. As an artist, I wanted to learn more about this country, which is very inspiring to me. I fell in love with this part of the world.

However, learning Tetum is much more difficult than I expected. I still don't speak it well, which is a disadvantage, because I firmly believe that to absorb a culture at its fullest, you must first learn the language.

Learning other languages ​​is difficult for me, as I am dyslexic, but that hasn't stopped me from making art and helping to design exhibitions, namely as a volunteer at Fundação Oriente in Dili, Timor-Leste. To carry out my artwork, I communicate in other ways with the professionals I work with, such as tailors, carpenters, artists, transporters, hardware store owners, filmmakers, photographers, among others. So I can still do everything I need to for my art.

What expectations did you have? Did reality live up to your expectations?

I didn't know Timor-Leste, but I had been to Indonesia before and I fell in love with the art, the food and the people and contemporary artists of Yogyakarta, a city on the island of Java, Bali, Jakarta and Bandung. Timor-Leste is very different, but I heard very good things about the country, about the struggle of the people, the kindness of the people, the nature, the food. In fact, there are amazing people here, kind and very welcoming, with the most beautiful smile, a great culture, and yes, Timor is more than I expected. I am impressed with the excellent coffee and great baristas in Dili and I was immediately taken by the beauty of the Tais, the traditional fabric, which represents the various linguistic groups in the country.

What are your artistic references?
When I was young, we often went to museums, to classical music, ballet, opera. I think that's where it all started. I also attended a very creative school system inspired by Rudolf Steiner. Before starting to attend art school in 2000, I was inspired by David Bowie, a multi-artist, and I watched many art films (French, Spanish, Italian, Scandinavian, among others) and I was always very creative.

I really like the painters Willem de Kooning, Piet Mondriaan, the sculptor Dan Flavin, the Dadaists, Cubists, Minimalists, Futurists, Post-Minimalists and groups of land art artists. Now I realize these are mostly successful artists and white men. Though one of my big examples also was te French/Amercian sculpturist Louise Bourgeouise. Later I realized that what I was seeing were often manipulated results from the western art world, western art history, art sales, what was considered the “next big thing” or the latest hype. In art school, I learned Art History, but I realized that I needed to read a lot more, study and learn about art worldwide.

Later, I became more and more interested in artists from the African continent (Yinka Shonibare, (Nigeria), Stacey Gillian Abe (Uganda), from South America (Doris Salcedo, Vik Muniz), from Asia (Heri Dono, Ninidtyo Adipurnomo, Mella Jaarsma) and Pacific, and increasingly activist artists, eco-artists and emerging young artists, as they are not heavily influenced by the western art market, which increasingly demands aesthetic and overly polished artworks, ever larger and more and more like luxury goods and “the next big thing.” To be honest, I find that annoying.

In your work, you often uses elements from nature and explores social behaviours. Does that also happen in this exhibition?

In this installation, the women who weave Tais are represented, which Tais are often used by politicians in a suit, but not necesarry as a showcase of unity. In a country dominated by male politicians, perhaps more than 85% are men in leadership positions, where the rights of women, girls and children are still not guaranteed, it is necessary to appeal to the Government to do much better, especially to serve the most distant municipalities and villages (far from Dili and passable roads) in order to improve education, medical care, nutrition, food security. In my opinion, Timor-Leste is not a poor country, but it seems that most of the money does not leave Dili.

What's more, nature is never far away in Timor-Leste, real Tais are made with hand-spun and grown cotton, naturally colored with ingredients straight from the soil, plants and trees. And human beings are phenomena of nature too, we often tend to forget that. But, truth be told, this is an exhibition, an artistic installation in which nature was not the starting point, as it often happens in my other conceptual artistic installations, such as my FUTURE forest projects, which you can discover on my website (camiliovanlenteren.com).

Can you tell us about the creative process for this exhibition?

This particular exhibition was born out of a love for the cultural importance of Tais, not for fashion – fast fashion is overrated and a major polluter worldwide – for the weavers of Tais, for the rich and complex culture that is at its origin. For the context in which the weavers live and weave these beautiful complex patterns. When I arrived in Timor-Leste, four years ago, I discovered that there was a complex identity of linguistic groups in the traditional Tais, in addition to the Timorese love for their traditions, and within them precisely the love for the Tais.

It is important to emphasize that Tetum is now the official language of Timor-Leste, but we must not forget that these local languages ​​are culturally very important and that they are also expressed through the Tais. Without these local languages, Timor-Leste would not be Timor-Leste. I quickly learned from the people I worked with about “futus” (patterns made through coloring and then weaving), “sotis” (silk threads or patterns woven with cotton threads), about natural coloring and I also discovered that the Tais they are not only divided by districts, but are also specially linked to different language groups.

In this sense, I had the idea of ​​doing something about male dominance in politics, using single-origin Tais (often modern, with synthetic modern colors and strange “sotis” or “futus”), often from just one language group, in a country that is very young and united for having survived the occupations of two countries and gained independence.

In the exhibition space, you will be able to see what that initial idea brought me today, after a long process of collecting and learning. It's still not perfect, there's still a lot more to learn, a long way to go, but I was not looking for perfection in thid case, showing the process can also be beautiful, important and reveal other directions and meanings.

Why United Colors of Timor-Leste?

The title of this art installation is: “United Colors of Timor-Leste / prototype 001”. The suit was made after having worked together with translators, four different tailors to find the right way of working and geeting a correct suit, finding the correct Tais with the help of Signora Céu Lopes, Timor-Aid, sister Agostinha (Mercado de Tais), seamstress Cecília, conversations with friends, conversations with the manager at Things & Other stories store, conversations and information from Mana Rosa (from Com, municipality of Lautém), conversations with director Joana from Fundação Oriente and with artists and, thus, this work is already in progress. contribute to unity, as it is a joint effort. Tais is a unifying force, just like culture and the arts, so I created a suit to represent this colorful unity.

What does the white Tais symbolize?

These presentations, or performances, me dressed in white, are about my role as a privileged heterosexual white male in this art world, far removed from the western art world, which I've been away from for nine years (which made me happy). I express this with white clothes, adapted to the country I am in, the context in which I find myself. With these white clothes, I am that artist performing.

Therefore, it is more of a personal artistic approach, as I regularly perform in white, and I also presented myself at the opening of this exhibition in a white Tais suit. It's a self-criticism, the moment when I look in the mirror and know I'm not perfect. This last sentence is important, as I think few people do this very often: look at themselves in the mirror and reflect before criticizing others. I'm not saying I'm good at it (I do my best), but these white suits are always reminding me to try and do better. Also I train with this to be not to serious about yourself, make some self hurting jokes can make the lives easier for others and sometlimes let them smile.

The white suit also represents that I am aware of my “status” and/or “positiion” as a white man, of my privileges, that the white man dominates the Western art world too much, and that is not right, that white people are a minority all over the world and they could (I think ‘should’) be more humble, more welcoming, more available to help (after asking if help is needed and what kind of help is desired).

Is unity in diversity possible or just a utopia?

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of their skin, or their origin, or their religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite,” to quote Nelson Mandela.

So my answers here depend on what we – visitors to the exhibition and citizens of the world – define as diversity? I see humanity as a whole, we live on a planet where we should share and be in balance with the flora and fauna that surrounds us, which is definitely not happening at the moment, especially since industrialization, which started in 1760. Along with capitalism, this situation is only getting worse and worse.

I believe that unity is the only way to save this planet, nature, all animals, insects, plants, flowers, trees, oceans and eventually, maybe ourselves. If we can get rid of male domination and the evil of money combinet with power, maybe we can turn consumerist capitalist democracies into circular economy democracies, maybe it can be done. But yes, it is a difficult challenge to overcome.

My dream and my utopia is a green world, where we all live in harmony with ‘Mother Earth’, the flora and fauna and a world without poverty (it is a question of sharing and the willingness of stopping intentionally wrong division of sources, resources and money), no more war, free and excellent education, health care for all, and a basic income for those who want and need it, funded by a 95% tax on the super-rich across the world. This is a utopia, although not impossible (there are great books on this topic).

The money generated by resources such as oil, gold, diamonds, among others, should belong to everyone, since no one owns the world and its resources. Although there are borders for specific reasons, which unfortunately I also have to accept, we often use them the wrong way, claiming resources that should be for everyone. More and more I have the feeling that since the invention of atomic energy, atomic bombs, the arrival on the moon and satellites, we haven't evolved any more (not saying I am impressed with landing on the moon, as it seems senseless to me). We are not using our brain capacity to the fullest, we live clouded by money, wealth and power. Sure, the internet sounds like fun and so do smartphones, but what are they really for? Help us to progress? I'm still not convinced.

If you ask specifically about unity in Timor-Leste, I think it's a very young country and it still has a long way to go, but seeing how people voted to elect the President of the Republic last year and a new Government this year, and as they are working together, I see that as a very promising sign. I am hopeful, because 60% of the population is under 18 years old (as I was told), but there are few job opportunities in Timor-Leste, care must be taken that this does not become a problem, as young people need to have good future prospects. This requires well-paying jobs, quality education, adequate health care and a healthy nation.

What reactions do you intend to provoke in the public with this exhibition?

I hope to open more eyes to the fact that Tais is strictly woven by women and yet these women, girls and children are often under the pressure of male dominance or sometimes even subject to aggression.

I think that by becoming even more proud of their cultural heritage and knowing where they come from, the Timorese will become more aware of this fact. Furthermore, male politicians, who often use Tais originating from a single municipality, are only representing that language group or district. Why not represent more language groups at the same time and celebrate local culture and languages, as well as promote Timor-Leste as a united country and the official language Tetum as a symbol of unity in diversity? I hope, that now that Tais is officially under UNESCO world heritage protection, since 2021, a museum of Tais will soon be created, and that this unit will gain even stronger momentum.

How do you evaluate art in Timor-Leste?

With last year's Hasoru Malu exhibition (May 2022), on which I worked on with Fundação Oriente (an idea of ​​Fundação Oriente delegate Joana Saraiva), artist Maria Madeira (main curator) and many others, I was very happy to see all these great artists together with great high quality artwork. With 15 artists, of which three were women, it was a huge success, although I would have liked to see more works by female artists featured. Of the 15 artists, 50% should be women and we are working hard in that direction, but it is difficult. It is not easy to find artists as they often work from home, even the best artists, such as Arte Moris. Timor-Leste still does not have an art museum or contemporary art galleries. There is also a lack of artists who have websites (many do not because it is too expensive), but it is an essential tool.

Furthermore, I was shocked by the treatment given to Arte Moris and how many works were thrown to the ground and trampled on. Art is always defenseless. This was a large-scale display of utter disrespect for artists, which really hurt many artists and the people around them (and me of course).

Art is everywhere. Without art and creative minds, the city of Dili would perhaps be a gray and monotonous city and the only colorful thing would be nature (which is under thread as trees are cut down on a daily basis). There wouldn't be the beauty of the Tais, clothes, good food, the great Ataúro sculptures, the amazing handmade swords, all the great cafe logos, shirts, colorful fishing boats and many more. I hope that, soon, they will open contemporary art galleries and, who knows, maybe even a contemporary art museum, which would also be great for tourism.

What are your next projects?

BHAVISHY (Future) Forest India to be planted soon. I recently finished my crowdfunding (fundraising campaign) to fulfill this project, in which I will plant a biodiverse forest with the word FUTURE (BHAVISHY in Hindie, future in Portuguese) in Rajasthan, India. I continue to volunteer and help set up exhibitions at Fundação Oriente, working on the extension of my artistic project “patterns of a normal live” (patterns of a normal life, in Portuguese, which can still be visited at Fundação Oriente and, more recently at the Pro-Ema restaurant) and trying to find art galleries for this project around the world. I'm also working on my website, through which I want to help, with my knowledge, young artists in the beginning and middle of their careers, all over the world.

(The installation “UNITED COLORS OF TIMOR-LESTE / Prototype 001”, inaugurated on June 21st, is on display in the main room of Fundação Oriente, until July 30th, between 9am and 6pm (not on sunday). Admission free. )