Roby Dwi Antono SUDO RUNGU: Echoes of Fire

'Echoes of Fire', the first solo exhibition in Thailand by Indonesian contemporary artist Roby Dwi Antono , curated by Loredana Pazzini Paracciani . Drawing on memories of the artist’s father, who worked as a blacksmith, the exhibition brings together new paintings, drawings, photographs, video works, and participatory art.

The exhibition has its roots in Roby Dwi Antono’s childhood in Ambarawa, Central Java. Roby grew up surrounded by nature, family life, and the daily rhythms of a rural community. His father worked as a blacksmith, and memories of the furnace, the smell of charcoal, smoke, hammers striking iron, and the physical traces of daily labour remained deeply embedded in the artist’s mind. At the time, Roby did not yet understand that these experiences would later become part of his artistic practice.

'Sudo Rungu' is a Javanese term referring to diminished hearing. It relates to the gradual decline in his father’s hearing after decades of working amid the sounds of hammers striking metal.

'Echoes of Fire' refers to the sounds and memories of the forge that remain long after their original source has passed.

Beginning with this family history, the exhibition expands into an exploration of the relationships among sound, memory, and loss. It considers how personal memories are intertwined with the practices, traditions, and cultural histories that shape them, and what remains as those memories begin to fade.

“This project began with personal memories of my father, his life as a blacksmith, and his gradual loss of hearing,” Roby Dwi Antono says. “As the works developed, these memories grew into broader reflections on sound, silence, labour, loss, and what is passed from one generation to the next. This body of work marks an important step in my practice because it brings together painting, video, and participatory elements.”

The exhibition grew out of an ongoing conversation between the artist and curator that began in March 2024. Roby made his first site visit to MOCA BANGKOK in September 2025. More than two years of development allowed him to revisit his family history, experiment with unfamiliar processes, and undertake field research before translating these memories across several forms within the exhibition space.

“This exhibition marks an important stage in Roby’s practice and creates an opportunity for closer exchange between Indonesia and Thailand,” says curator Loredana Pazzini Paracciani. “Each country has its own cultural foundations, and these differences form part of Southeast Asia’s diversity. When artists bring local experiences and personal perspectives into dialogue with audiences in neighbouring countries, they help build greater understanding and mutual support across the region.”

The exhibition unfolds across three sections: Arang, Bara, and Abu, meaning Charcoal, Ember, and Ash. Each takes its name from a material or condition associated with a blacksmith’s forge and establishes a distinct atmosphere within the exhibition. Together, the three sections trace a passage from the remains of combustion and the heat that transforms metal to the quiet that follows after a fire has gone out.

Arang begins with charcoal and black powder, physical traces of a fire that has already burned. Bara refers to the heat and energy still held within an ember, strong enough to transform raw metal. Abu leads visitors into a quieter space in which sound and movement gradually subside, leaving ash and the traces of what has taken place.

The exhibition does not follow a chronological narrative. Instead, each work appears as a fragment of memory. Some return directly to the life of the artist’s father. Others draw on the forms of the ear, internal organs, sound waves, and flames to consider how the body receives and remembers sound. Certain works invite visitors to add their own traces alongside those left by others.