Indonesia in focus during 'Sudo Rungu' - Bangkok Post

Indonesian contemporary artist Roby Dwi Antono is now showcasing his first solo exhibition in Thailand titled "Sudo Rungu: Echoes Of Fire", which draws on memories from his father who worked as a blacksmith, at Moca Museum of Contemporary Art from now until Jan 3.

"Sudo Rungu" brings together new paintings, drawings, photographs, video works and participatory art to explore memory, loss and intergenerational legacy.

Sonus Extinctus by Roby Dwi Antono. photos courtesy of MOCA Bangkok

Roby Dwi Antono was born in 1990 and lives and works in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He developed his practice independently through drawing, illustration and graphic design before expanding into painting, sculpture and installation.

His work draws on childhood memories, folklore, popular culture and personal experience, bringing familiar imagery into an imagined world.

Roby has presented solo exhibitions with Almine Rech in Brussels, London and Paris. His work has also been shown at museums and international art fairs across Asia, Europe and the United States.

The exhibition has its roots in Roby's childhood in Ambarawa, Central Java. Memories of his father's workshop -- the furnace, the smell of charcoal, smoke, hammers striking iron and the physical traces of daily labour -- form the starting point for a new body of work reflecting on family, labour, and the memories that connect generations.

"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 memory, loss, labour and what is preserved and passed from one generation to the next.

The exhibition grew out of an ongoing conversation between Roby and Loredana Pazzini Paracciani that began in March 2024. Roby made his first site visit to Moca Museum of Contemporary Art in September 2025.

More than two years of development allowed him to revisit his family history and translate these memories into a new body of work. The exhibition offers audiences in Thailand their first opportunity to experience a solo presentation of his work.

"Sudo Rungu: Echoes Of Fire" is now on display at G Floor Atrium and Temporary Exhibition Rooms 1-3, Moca Museum of Contemporary Art, until Jan 3.