Project title
Reimagining Pustaha, Re-imaging Batak Symbols
Research question
How can the pustaha be connected to the common Batak people today? Is it possible to comprehend the symbols in the pustaha through artistic means?
Project description
Theo Frids Hutabarat’s project focuses on the Batak manuscripts known as pustaha and how museums in the Netherlands preserve them. He aims to study the life of certain spiritual symbols within the pustaha and trace their connections to various cultures across the ages. This project seeks to deepen the understanding of the past by exploring Batak spirituality—not just focusing on ancestors and rituals, but also on political, social, and environmental histories. The findings will serve as the foundation for future artistic exploration, re-imaging these symbols as lived experiences (through the aesthetics of covering and revealing in painting practice), and viewing this as an alternative practice of care for a shared legacy of civilizations.
Selected publications
- Theo Frids Hutabarat. 2024. “Simbol Magis Batak dalam Metode Komparatif Carl Schuster”. Hanifiya: Jurnal Studi Agama-Agama
https://journal.uinsgd.ac.id/index.php/hanifiya/article/view/35719 - Theo Frids Hutabarat. 2024. “Melukiskan Anonim”. Bandung Bergerak
https://bandungbergerak.id/article/detail/159621/melukiskan-anonim - Theo Frids Hutabarat, Zaldy Armansyah, Liesbeth Ouwehand. 2023. “Course Kit (Peculiar Playground, Reframing, Anonim)”. Copyright/Reserved
https://aaa.org.hk/en/collections/search/library/course-kit/search/actors-id:217397/page/1