Empire: Rooting for the Antihero on Thursday

Anna Anderluh is an Austrian vocalist and composer with roots in jazz and a distinctive flair for genre-defying improvisation, both vocally and on a range of self-taught instruments. Her work moves fluidly between concert halls and theatre stages. In collaboration with director Franz von Strolchen, she co-created the music for BOJI, enveloping the play in haunting and thought-provoking acoustics. While drawn to experimental composition, Anna also engages playfully with elements of pop music. Performing with her self-modified autoharp, minimalistic loops, and incisive lyrics, she has appeared widely across Europe and beyond, including at the Cairo Jazz Festival.

Anna Anderluh adalah vokalis dan komponis asal Austria dengan akar musik jazz serta gaya khas dalam improvisasi lintas genre, baik secara vokal maupun melalui berbagai instrumen yang ia kuasai secara otodidak. Karyanya mengalir luwes antara ruang konser dan panggung teater. Berkolaborasi dengan sutradara Franz von Strolchen, ia turut menciptakan musik untuk BOJI, yang membalut pertunjukan dengan nuansa akustik mencekam sekaligus menggugah pikiran. Meski tertarik pada komposisi eksperimental, Anna juga piawai menghadirkan elemen musik pop dengan sentuhan jenaka. Dengan autoharp modifikasi buatannya, loop minimalis, dan lirik tajam, ia telah tampil di berbagai panggung Eropa dan dunia, termasuk di Cairo Jazz Festival.

Christian Winkler is an Austrian author and playwright who works under the moniker Franz von Strolchen when directing his own plays. He has established himself as an innovative voice in contemporary German-speaking theatre, with his texts and productions staged around the world, including in New York, Berlin, Edinburgh, Mumbai, and Skopje. As an Artist-in-Residence, Winkler has developed projects in Rome and Istanbul, where his acclaimed performance BOJI originated. Inspired by a Turkish social media phenomenon turned propaganda tool, BOJI was banned from being performed in Türkiye but went on to tour Europe in multiple languages, including Icelandic, Kurdish, Albanian, and Farsi. Political manipulation and social conflict are recurring themes in Winkler’s work. His piece Empire – Rooting for the Antihero blends fact and fiction to explore the interpersonal stories of the Dutch elite in the East Indies, based on the diary of an Austrian-Indonesian eyewitness. Both BOJI and Empire have received critical acclaim and nominations for major theatre awards in Germany and Austria. During his time as in-house playwright and director at Luzerner Theater in Switzerland, his site-specific production of Biedermann und die Brandstifter (2018) became an audience favourite, performed nearly 60 times in 60 different private apartments. Winkler also teaches at the University of Applied Arts Vienna and the University of Applied Sciences Hamburg, and currently serves as Artistic Director of Theater am Lend in Graz, Austria.

Christian Winkler adalah penulis dan dramawan asal Austria yang juga berkarya sebagai sutradara dengan nama samaran Franz von Strolchen. Ia dikenal sebagai salah satu suara inovatif dalam teater berbahasa Jerman kontemporer, dengan karya-karyanya yang telah dipentaskan di berbagai belahan dunia, termasuk New York, Berlin, Edinburgh, Mumbai, dan Skopje. Sebagai seniman residensi, Winkler mengembangkan sejumlah proyek di Roma dan Istanbul, salah satunya melahirkan pertunjukan terkenalnya, BOJI. Terinspirasi dari fenomena media sosial di Turki yang berubah menjadi alat propaganda, karya ini sempat dilarang di negara tersebut namun kemudian berkeliling Eropa dalam berbagai bahasa, termasuk Islandia, Kurdi, Albania, dan Farsi. Manipulasi politik dan konflik sosial menjadi tema yang kerap muncul dalam karyanya. Pertunjukan Empire – Rooting for the Antihero memadukan fakta dan fiksi untuk menggali kisah para elite Belanda di Hindia Timur, berdasarkan catatan harian seorang saksi mata Austria-Indonesia. Baik BOJI maupun Empire mendapat pujian kritis dan masuk nominasi penghargaan teater bergengsi di Jerman dan Austria. Sebagai penulis naskah dan sutradara di Luzerner Theater, ia menciptakan produksi pertunjukan berbasis lokasi berjudul Biedermann und die Brandstifter (2018), yang menjadi favorit penonton dan dipentaskan hampir 60 kali di apartemen-apartemen pribadi. Selain itu, Winkler juga mengajar di University of Applied Arts Vienna dan University of Applied Sciences Hamburg. Saat ini, ia menjabat sebagai Direktur Artistik Theater am Lend di Graz, Austria.

Marten Schmidt is an Austrian–Indonesian actor and Founder of Art Calls Indonesia, the country’s leading independent arts media platform. Since his teenage years, Marten has been eager to explore his Indonesian roots and embrace his dual Austrian–Indonesian identity. As an adolescent, he discovered a space for self-expression through writing, and at the age of 18 was nominated as the youngest-ever delegate of the pan-European InterPlay Europe Playwrights Festival. As an actor, he has performed at theatre festivals across Austria and at venues such as Dschungel Vienna and Next Liberty in Graz. For Marten, art served as an introspective path that prepared him for his eventual move to Indonesia, where he immersed himself in his mother’s culture. There, he worked as a TV and digital-media journalist before expanding into corporate work across Southeast Asia. Alongside his professional endeavours, he founded and continues to nurture Art Calls Indonesia, a passion project dedicated to connecting art practitioners across classes and islands. It has since become the most renowned independent arts media platform in the Indonesian archipelago.

Marten Schmidt adalah aktor Austria-Indonesia sekaligus pendiri Art Calls Indonesia, platform media seni independen terkemuka di Indonesia. Sejak remaja, ia bersemangat menelusuri akar Indonesianya dan merangkul identitas gandanya sebagai Austria-Indonesia. Pada masa itu, ia menemukan ruang ekspresi diri melalui menulis, dan pada usia 18 tahun dinominasikan sebagai delegasi termuda sepanjang sejarah Festival Penulis Naskah Pan-Eropa, InterPlay Europe. Sebagai aktor, Marten telah tampil di berbagai festival teater di Austria, termasuk di Dschungel Vienna dan Next Liberty di Graz. Baginya, seni menjadi jalur introspektif yang mempersiapkannya untuk akhirnya pindah ke Indonesia, tempat ia mendalami budaya ibunya. Di sini, ia sempat bekerja sebagai jurnalis TV dan media digital sebelum merambah ke dunia korporasi di berbagai negara Asia Tenggara. Sejalan dengan perjalanan profesionalnya, Marten mendirikan dan terus mengembangkan Art Calls Indonesia, sebuah proyek yang didedikasikan untuk menghubungkan para praktisi seni lintas kelas dan wilayah. Kini, Art Calls Indonesia telah berkembang menjadi salah satu platform media seni independen paling berpengaruh di Indonesia.

Xin Wei Thow is a Singaporean–German master of Javanese Gamelan and a committed cultural bridge-builder between Indonesia and Europe. As a lecturer based in Hamburg, he shares his deep knowledge of Nusantara’s acoustic traditions, while actively introducing Indonesian heritage to European audiences. A two-time recipient of the Darmasiswa RI scholarship, Xin Wei refined his craft at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts in Surakarta, where he collaborated closely with renowned local practitioners. His expertise spans advanced instruments such as the Rebab, Kendhang, and Gender, and his work moves beyond the traditional repertoire to include innovative interpretations of Gamelan soundscapes. He has performed internationally, including at Singapore’s Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, the Solo International Performing Arts Festival (SIPA), and Rumah Budaya Indonesia in Berlin. Dedicated to promoting Nusantaran arts in Europe, Xin Wei has also collaborated with dance maestro Didik Nini Thowok to bring the 19th-century Javanese manuscript Sĕrat Cĕnthini into both scholarly and performative focus.

Xin Wei Thow adalah maestro gamelan Jawa berdarah Singapura-Jerman sekaligus penghubung budaya antara Indonesia dan Eropa. Berbasis di Hamburg, ia mengajar tentang tradisi akustik Nusantara sambil memperkenalkan warisan Indonesia kepada publik Eropa. Dua kali menerima beasiswa Darmasiswa RI, ia mengasah keahliannya di Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Surakarta dan berkolaborasi dengan para praktisi terkemuka. Keahliannya mencakup instrumen tingkat lanjut seperti Rebab, Kendhang, dan Gender, sementara karyanya melampaui repertoar tradisional dengan mengeksplorasi lanskap bunyi gamelan yang inovatif. Ia telah tampil di berbagai panggung internasional, termasuk Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay Singapura, Solo International Performing Arts Festival (SIPA), dan Rumah Budaya Indonesia di Berlin. Dengan dedikasi pada promosi seni Nusantara di Eropa, Xin Wei juga berkolaborasi dengan maestro tari Didik Nini Thowok dalam mengkaji naskah Jawa abad ke-19 Sĕrat Cĕnthini, membawanya ke ranah akademis maupun pertunjukan.