beras.cơm is a multidisciplinary research-based 3-week residency on rice as a medium to explore notion of diaspora and belonging by Kiều-Anh Nguyễn (VN) and Nindya Nareswari (ID/DE), hosted by Bakudapan (ID) in Yogyakarta, in cross collaboration with local culture workers, artisans, food vendors and farmers, resulting in performative dinner reception on August 23, 2025 at Warung Pelan-pelan to showcase the residents's experimental work, including drawing, scents, installation of cyanotype on rice papers, and zine.

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Small bites from Germany, Indonesia, and Vietnam were served at the Open Studio with careful curation around the theme of diaspora that explores distance in relation to time and space. Some are dried and fried, like rice crackers, others are wrapped, like lemper and bakcang, for portability between places. Some are fermented, like tapai, while others are slow-cooked in sugar, like gudeg, both methods serving the purpose of preservation. 

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The outcome of Nareswari’s residency took the form of an installation using cyanotype on rice paper, continuing her ongoing study of light. The work weaves rice as both material and memory, tracing connections between two homes, Indonesia and Germany. Cyanotypes of German and Indonesian rice were created on rice paper under the local sun, near paddy fields close to the residency house in Yogyakarta. In this interaction of food and light, the work reflects on how materials, identity, and memories shift form over time, and how both are marked by transformation and impermanence.

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It was a part of "Dealing in Distance" Residency Program by Goethe Institut.

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Date  1-23 August 2025 

Type of Project  Residency Program

Funded by Goethe Institut

Hosted by Bakudapan

Location Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Documentation  Muhammad Alfariz