The past several days have been heartbreaking for me. Yogyakarta has become my second home over the past 5 years and there are many people there that have become an extended family to me. My love and prayers go out to all the people of Yogya and the surrounding areas (Bantul especially). I wish that I were still there to help with the relief efforts.
I have exchanged emails with my friend Arie and spoke with him on the phone last night. He, Nadiah, Sam, and Ade are all okay. Our friend Mie, who runs the Via Via Cafe is also okay; however all of her workers, who live further south, their homes have been destroyed. I too am still waiting to hear from other friends who live further south. Arie has said that within Yogya life is strangely becoming normal again, yet the feel in the air is sorrow and fear that Merapi will erupt soon. However, he also said that to go just slightly south -- starting near ISI (the art school there), the devestation is unbelievable with houses completely flattened and there is rubble everywhere. Arie is planning to go out to our friend Nano's today to check on him (Nano lives in a village near ISI).
As far as what we (myself and the other Sama-sama/Together crew) are doing here to help in the relief efforts is that we are selling the just published Sama-sama catalogue for $30 (or more for those who can be more generous) plus shipping costs.
The catalogue is 8" x 8", full color, 156 pages and features the entire international exchange project and residency between artists from San Francisco (Carolyn Castano, Alicia McCarthy, Carolyn Ryder Cooley, Aaron Noble, Andrew Schoultz and myself) and Yogyakarta (Arie Dyanto, Samuel Indratma, Nano Warsono, and Arya Pandjalu).
The images here are the cover, back cover, the inside cover (these are all of the artists and friends from Yogya who worked on the project), and an image of the mural project in Yogya that Apotik Komik had done before the Sama-sama/ Together project.
To purchase a catalogue and help with the relief efforts, please contact:
Kevin Chen
Intersection for the Arts
kevin@theintersection.org
or you can contact me at:
megawilson@aol.com
We will be working directly with our friends in Yogya to ensure that the money reaches those most in need.
SAMA-SAMA!
To learn more about the project, you can check out:
www.samasama.org
