Mother Bank is an experimental bank in the form of a mobile bank (emok bank) in Jatiwangi, Majalengka, West Java initiated by the artistic research group of the Badan Kajian Pertanahan (Land Studies Agency). Born as part of a wave of #emergencyactivism during the COVID-19 pandemic, the bank, which was founded in early 2021, functions as the closest and easiest economic security ecosystem for the residents of Kampung Wates, most of whom are daily workers and at that time lost their jobs. Differentiating itself from mobile banks in general, which charge quite high interest, these banks are jointly managed with a zero percent loan interest. Organically, this bank is a place for mothers in the village to learn, share, grow, create, move together.

One of the output activities of Mother Bank is a music group in which the customers are the personnel. Using ceramic music introduced by Jatiwangi art Factory —which has now become traditional music in Jatiwangi, this music group conveys the experiences of its customers as women who live amidst the changing landscape of the Jatiwangi region towards the largest manufacturing industrial area on the island of Java. As a group, the Bank also advocates for itself in the midst of land conflict issues faced by residents of Kampung Wates and seven other villages with the Indonesian Air Force, since Indonesia declared its independence.

Carrying the title and spirit of 'Tanggung Renteng' which means shared responsibility, this album shares the experiences of women as itinerant bank customers who survive by 'digging a hole-closing a hole', witnessing how rice fields slowly turn into factories, the enthusiasm of youth young Jatiwangi women who flock to become laborers, the ritual of paying wages for the workers to buy rocket chicken, the efforts of women to utilize the land by planting, to the collaborative process of Mother Bank members with ceramic women craftsmen from a village in Borobudur, Magelang.

Bunga Siagian (Badan Kajian Pertanahan/Land Studies Agency)
Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Artist biography from last.fm