The tropics are those imaginary lines over which the sun, positioned at the zenith, pauses after completing a cycle to take a new direction. Humanity seems to be going through a similar moment, a state of solstice, and those structures, organic and artificial, that sustained the dominant form of civilization, cease to be useful, while from the margins others have already begun to appear and organize themselves.

It is also a time of extreme polarity, a property that divides the human, constructing the identity of subjects by opposition, but it represents the most basic form of attraction: it is the opposite poles that generate movement and impulse, uniting particles and allowing the flow of current.

Observing these phenomena, Polar and Tropic proposes a meeting between spaces that come from opposite extremes, the Nordic region and Southeast Asia, where vast ecosystems are sustained by networks of collaboration and solidarity. After a period that prioritizes the autonomy of the self and projects the state of balance based on radical individual interest, the practices emerging from these projects propose a new model, expanding the space for art and exploring other ways to establish relationships, create networks, and build common spaces.

The program brings together twelve projects through exhibitions organized around an agora, which hosts an extensive public program. Curated by Tenthaus, Bunga Siagian, and Jatiwangi Art Factory (JAF), it will feature a video project, a shared editorial space, a radio and listening station, and an area dedicated to dialogue and casual interaction, inspired by the Indonesian practice of nongkrong and the communal spirit of the sauna — meeting points that, although originating in geographically distant contexts, in POLAR AND TROPIC dialogue and coexist, revealing affinities in the construction of the commons.

The guiding question of this encounter is how to expand the network, and how to make it sustainable. How to continue? How to generate lasting structures of mutual support and collaboration, capable of sustaining possible futures?