MikhailNeocles David

01 · The Stage · Jakarta, 1991–1996

On stage anythingcan happen.

An organic, ever-changing environment, where the arts and technology merge to create atmospheres.

Sometimes a stageis dark and empty.

At other times itteems with action:

workers building sets, artists painting backdrops…

…musicians tuningtheir instruments,

…technicians arrangingthe lighting.

Dress rehearsals. Performances.

The vanguard of the avant-garde

Over 3,000 artistspassed through The Stage.

For five years Mikhail’s space was a landmark of Jakarta’s art scene: installations made to be felt with all five senses.

02 · Pringgitan · The shadow play

Before the stage,a life in shadows.

In a Javanese house the pringgitan is where the wayang is played: the dalang moves leather puppets before an oil lamp, and the audience follows their shadows. The kayon, the tree of life, stands in the middle until the story begins. Tonight the story is his.

19 August 1960 · Lagos, West Africa

Born in Lagos,to Cypriot and Greek parents.

Europe

He grew upin Europe,

Vancouver · Canada

studied anthropologyand sociology,

Bachelor’s degree, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia.

1982 · Jakarta

and made Jakartahis home.

Dividing his time between Indonesia and Europe.

Early works

Less,more.

Minimalist works, shown in solo and group exhibitions in Greece, Italy, Canada, Australia and Indonesia.

The 1990s

Then, allfive senses.

His installations became atmospheres to see, hear, touch, smell and taste, and he built a place to make them in: The Stage.

03 · Dalem Ageng · The inner hall

Inside, thework.

Paintings, objects and photographs: the quieter side of a man better known for festivals.

Paintings

In a house of shadows,colour.

Paintings from his earlier works. Click any work to see it closer and read about it.

Objects and installations

The ultimateabstraction.

“I am better known as a minimalist. By reducing an object or an idea to its minimum one tries to reach its core, its essence.” — Mikhail Neocles David

Senthong tengen · National Museum, Jakarta, July 2003

Homage to the EternalCreativity of the Human Race.

An installation and exposition by Mikhail, presented by JakArt and opened by the Director-General of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura, and Indonesia’s Minister for Culture and Tourism, I Gde Ardika.

From the cave dweller to the present

The art of everyage.

A sketch of atmospheric impressions for a travelling museum: replicas of the most important art made throughout human history, around the world, shown in an “atmospheric” context with the tangible and intangible heritage of the world.

The idea

A museum thatcould travel.

Mikhail proposed it as a travelling museum. This house borrows his idea, to carry his own work.

Photographs

Thephotographer.

His photographs were shown in solo and group exhibitions and published in newspapers, magazines and books.

04 · Gandhok · JakArt@, from 2001

Then he gatheredeveryone.

Together with Ary he founded JakArt: artists and concerned citizens who believed the arts should reach the whole city, not a narrow few.

3,000 artists · 50 countries

A homage to humancreativity.

“…and the capacity to understand and appreciate the thoughts and feelings of other human beings.”

Six festivals · twelve productions

175 cities,four continents.

UNESCO · AAPAF

Bridges betweenpeople.

Endorsed by UNESCO, and a founding member of the Association of Asian Performing Arts Festivals.

On the road

A bus, an orchestra,a festival à la carte.

The Stage Bus from Indonesia toured the Peloponnese for the Cultural Olympiad in Greece. At JakArt@2008 the Shoestring Orchestra gave its world premiere, conducted by George Ellis, and Mikhail showed his exhibition Crosses and Burka.

05 · Gandhok · The Imaginary Festival

What isreal?

A room of screens, because this idea was about screens. From 2005 Mikhail spoke of a world where the virtual and the real were intertwined, and fantasy was disguised and sold to us as reality.

“…by those who wish to promote their product”

Fantasy, soldas reality.

“…whether these are consumer goods, services, information, the news, the arts, spiritual and religious beliefs and opinion, wars or entertainment.” — a friend, remembering the idea

JakArt@2008 · Jakarta, August 2008

Thirty-one festivaldirectors.

JakArt held the Imaginary Festival: festival directors and representatives from around the world came to Jakarta to discuss it, at the annual meeting of the Association of Asian Performing Arts Festivals.

A warning, early

Then the screenswent dark.

“…when the subprime mortgage case occurred in 2007–2008, then followed by the LIBOR scandal case in 2012, I realized that his concept was not a ‘coincidence’… He was trying to warn the world about the danger of exploitation that caused imbalances in every mechanism.” — a friend

A poem by Mikhail Neocles David

LIFE

“a series of misconceptions bordering upon a line between reality and deception, a clumsy construction of illusions though vividly lived”

Senthong tengah · In memoriam

The quietestroom.

In a Javanese house the middle senthong is the most private place, and the most sacred.

Tisa Ho · Hong Kong Arts Festival

“Warm andtwinkly.”

“…exuding good humour and embracing all of humanity complete with its quirks and foibles. He had an easy way that belied a keen intelligence.”

Marcia Coleman and Mousa Diallo · Mali

“A mentor ofall arts.”

“…encouraging people around you to push even further to develop their true potential.”

Yulia · JakArt Executive Committee

“Blowing thewhistle.”

“He articulated ‘misconduct’ in the development of human culture, and he sensed the danger of displacement in ‘creativity’… it takes years or even generations to prove that point… I believe evidence is waiting to become real.”

Royal Thai Embassy · Jakarta

“Without seeking anythingin return.”

“Mr. Mikhail was a genuine artist… Mr. Mikhail’s memory will always remain deep within our hearts.”

Kathrin Deventer · European Festivals Association

“A home ofwelcome.”

“This house and his home as a home of welcome for friends, will always live on in my thoughts, and in our work!”

In his own words · from “maybe time”

Though vividlylived.

life:
a series of misconceptions
bordering upon a line
between reality and deception
a clumsy construction of illusions
though vividly lived

Gadri · The house, Jakarta

He shaped thehouse, too.

Mikhail also expressed himself through landscape and interior design, placing sculptures and other works of art within the house and its garden.

The house, on film

Rooms, light,water.

From the family’s film of the house.

In the house

A carvedgebyok.

Javanese carved doors, like the ones at the front of this museum, beside the piano.

Kathrin Deventer · European Festivals Association

“Hosting me athis house…”

“Hosting me in Jakarta at his house some years ago showed me that his colleagues were his friends, who he welcomed at home.”

A friend

Ahead of histime.

“I do not know whether Mikhail was a scientist, an artist, an entrepreneur or a humanitarian… but I do know that he was ahead of his time. According to a professor of his, by as much as 50 years… We shall remember you Mikhail!”

06 · ASAH · Indonesia, from 2006

A piano, a cello,and a painter listening.

Ary Sutedja-David at the piano, Asep Hidayat on cello. “I work behind the canvas and try to capture and record the atmosphere of the evening. Each line, each stroke, each shape represents the colour of a note, the essence of a tune.” Seventy-two performances in fifty-one cities.