“Artists are just children who refuse to put down their crayons.” ― Al Hirschfeld Here is raising my arak to the Indonesian artists who refuse to grow up. Its been a joy to be part of the @theupsidespace Curation where I had the privilege of curating a group of feisty Indonesian artists! Thank you @lisaraniray for this pure joy-opportunity! Here is my curators note: Title: Sama Sama- Asamasama The lexicology of Sama-Sama, one of the most common phrases in Bahasa Indonesia colloquy– means thank you, same to you, together, jointly, equally. In today’s slang it would be: ‘same same’. Interestingly, Sama Sama finds its etymological trajectory in the word Asamasama, an ancient Sanskrit word that specifies the difference within the equanimity of sameness, somewhat equal and unequal at the same time, an invocation to a Higher Source that says that while we are all equal, that Source is still unfathomably matchless. What this portends, however, for those in the everyday business of life is that we are all indeed equal, but also uniquely distinct and diverse. Quite appropriately, we could say, that the slang today would be ‘same same but different’. This curation seeks to explore the visual interconnectedness of this 'dichotomy'; or perhaps the wisdom in its non-duality. That an ancient language had within it the seed of diversity couched firmly in the ethics of equality is significant. Given the current dystopian world order, where differences are all we see as wars are waged with impunity, it would be an appropriate dialogue to engage with the young artists of Indonesia, to explore this spiritual-semantic connection of non-duality found in the much-loved phrase of everyday language in Indonesia. Sama Sama. Audio credit- Sinanggar Tulo by Trio Ambisi