TAPAL BATAS KASAT MATA
(The Visible Boundaries) 

This series is part of the art project PRAJURIT KALAH TANPA RAJA
(the soldiers lost without a king)

Is a series of works from the of projects ‘The Soldiers Lost Without a King’, which tells about the social problems that occur in Yogyakarta. One of the hottest cases in Yogyakarta is the issue of land ownership, which is commonly referred as SG (Sultan Ground). Sultan Ground is an assumption that some area that has been owned, or used and even certified by civilians, is still the property of the king or Sultan, which refers to the Giyanti agreement (1755).

Until now, the existence of SG has not clarified yet, both in state agrarian law nor in special regional regulations. This uncertainty was used by several parties to quickly acquire land ownership in Yogyakarta. At the same time, this situation is a new form of colonialism, where power is used to repress and seize the rights of other citizens, especially in the deprivation of living space.

Some examples of cases that are currently happening in Yogyakarta are;

-Yogyakarta local government give permission to exploit an area that has natural resources without considering the needs of local residents. With excuse; building a business that will contributes to increasing regional income and absorbing labor, the corporations extract resources where the biggest profits and only flowing to this group of people.

-The deprivation of an area for the purpose of building a city, by removing the civilians who have rights to the area. Apart from depriving the citizens of their right to life, the government works with the authorities to capitalize on these lands, which also affects the mental formation and consumptive way of life of the citizen.

Based on these, this work will refer to the map of the “power” area of ​​Yogyakarta. The map is not only in the form of cartography on a small scale, but there are also monumental markers, as a form of the Pathok Negoro mosque gate which is a sign of regional boundaries in Yogyakarta. As a kingdom which strongly related to Islamic culture, the mosque is an important building which is also related to the politic world. The conquest of a territory may be related to the construction of a mosque as a symbol of power. The 5 Pathok Negoro mosques that exist in every corner of the Yogyakarta area are believed to be the boundaries of the territory of the Kraton Jogja at that time.

Through the symbol of the gate, I want to talk about the vagueness of the state law, in this context; agrarian law, which is then used as land by the state and authorities to seize basic human rights; living space.

Prihatmoko Moki