Can we introduce you to Ajeng? Ajeng came to Elami in a blissful moment of serendipity- she spotted our job advert within seconds of it being posted and was the first applicant. It was meant to be. Ajeng can always be counted on to know someone in every corner of every institution and organization in Bali’s art scene, make an incredible playlist, and quietly follow up every last thing on her to-do list.

We asked her a few out-of-left-field questions in honor of her endless ability to surprise.

What’s the best thing about being an only child?

A master of alone time and enjoying it.

What’s your favorite word in the Indonesian language and why?

Oh a lot!

But I’ll pick the classic one: “nanti besok”

I grew up in a mixed culture between Bali and Java.

In some contexts, besok (tomorrow) is whenever after today, while nanti (later) could be in a second or 6 hours or whenever or even a way of passive-aggressively avoiding something.

Scenario 1: You bump into your friend and talk. She/ he is casually saying ‘let’s have a proper catch up someday’. But you are not sure when or whether you like the idea, or you both know that it will be once in a blue moon. Then you just say ‘ok besok ya’. Your friend knows that she/ he isn't supposed to expect tomorrow is the day.

Scenario 2: One day I asked my landlord’s nephew to prune one of the trees in our garden. My neighbor usually needs branches for his shed. So I recommended him to give them all to my neighbor. He then said that he wanted to make sure of it. After a while, my housemate went to our rooftop and said that the branches are there. I had a lot of ‘nanti’ when I reminded him to put them away.

Though Java and Bali use those two words in a similar context, I found myself learning the “nanti besok” concept in Bali. In Java, sometimes you will find people say “besok nanti”.

nanti besok/ besok nanti doubles the vague concept of time. In reverse, you can only know when it’s literally nanti besok/ besok nanti by the mix of gesture, experience, and gut feeling :’D

What was the proudest moment in your professional life so far?

Now.

If you had to pick 5 artists only to listen to for the rest of your life who would they be?

Soko, Haim, Khruangbin, Susso, … Bjork.

When was the first time you made a collage? Can you describe the end result?

I can’t remember, but I started seriously 2 years ago. I use A4/ A5 plain paper as the base or tweak from the one page of the magazine. I do them manually. I cut magazine papers and/or use the byproduct of my previous cut/collages. Sometimes I add used/found things like bubble gum wrap, chocolate wrap, shell, bottle cap, dried flower, calendar, etc. I always compose most of the pieces before pasting. Even though, often, I stack additional material after all. Sometimes (very rare), I make collages in GIF format.

They tend to look like a scene in the film or story. A lot of them are representing certain feelings too. I think it’s easy to imagine single and broad interpretations from my collages. They either have main characters conditioned in certain ambience/ situations or ambience itself. I often play around with myths and body politics. Through this question, I thought about my collages and I think they are mystic.

You’re known for your sense of style and elegance. How do you curate your look?

Mood based.

Analyze your coworkers based on their astrological signs.

What a coincidence that our team has 2 Libra suns and 2 Taurus suns, which are ruled by Venus. When Libra is all dreamy and imaginary, the Taureans make them grounded and thinking practically. They are known for their sense of aesthetics too.