Reign (2025) '20 min - Philemon Mukarno

Reign: The Liberation of the Self

Philemon Mukarno’s performance Reign, which premiered on August 28, 2025, during the BUT Film Festival in Breda, is more than a physical act; it is a profound artistic narrative of spiritual disentanglement. Part of a program titled The Last Supper—a collection of works that critically engage with Christian motifs—Reign offers a radical interpretation of sacrifice. While the festival program explores faith and divine devotion, Mukarno redefines the concept of sacrifice by directing it toward the shedding of a dictated past. The work serves as a spiritual reckoning, breaking the chains of dogma to pursue an authentic, new state of being.

An Allegory of Spiritual Suffocation

At the core of the performance lies an intense, almost unbearable metaphor for spiritual suffocation. The artist begins sealed within a transparent plastic enclosure—a vessel that initially promised security but inevitably morphed into a stifling cage. This barrier represents the rigid beliefs and dogmatic structures that stifle personal growth. The physical struggle to breathe within this material is not merely a spectacle of distress; it is a visible manifestation of psychological confinement. By making the unseen burden of suppressed faith tangible, Mukarno invites the audience into a state of deep, empathetic discomfort, transforming the struggle into a shared human experience.

The Trauma of a ‘Broken Development’

Reign exposes the “broken development” often caused by a childhood truncated by rigid dogmas. As the artist—bleeding and naked—navigates the confines of the plastic bag, the vulnerability of the human condition is laid bare. Nudity here is a strategic artistic tool rather than a provocation; it is an act of radical honesty. The blood on the skin and the exposed form signify internal wounds and the shame inherent in discarding deeply ingrained patterns. The body becomes a canvas for trauma, where the arduous path toward liberation is written in sweat, blood, and skin.

Dogma as a Second Skin

A striking element of the performance is how Mukarno externalizes internal dogma. With red pigment, he writes texts on the walls of the plastic enclosure—words that once functioned as the unchangeable laws of his psyche. As the heat of the performance rises and his exertion intensifies, these written dogmas begin to melt and smear, evoking the imagery of spilled blood and forbidden tears. This act subverts the Biblical prohibition against marking the body. By using his own form to strip away these inscriptions, Mukarno reclaims his body from psychological imprint. The naked form is not a defiled temple; it is a blank slate—a tabula rasa ready for a self-determined existence.

Philemon Mukarno: Composer of Spirit and Flesh

Mukarno’s artistic vocabulary, rooted in his background as a composer and filmmaker, is central to the potency of Reign. His training in Japanese Butoh dance provides the performance with a sense of deliberate, visceral control; the slow, agonizing movements explore the fine line between life and death. The soundscape is as intentional as the movement, with the artist’s raw, heavy breathing acting as the foundational rhythm of the composition. Based in Rotterdam and born in Indonesia, Mukarno brings a “monolithic aura” to his work, continuing a rigorous investigation into identity, gender, and religious oppression.

A Hopeful Conclusion: The New Beginning

The performance does not conclude in despair, but in a moment of profound transformation. The act of tearing the plastic bag open acts as a catharsis—a sudden rush of fresh air that fills the lungs and signals spiritual rebirth. This metaphor illustrates that the truth found after abandoning dogma is resilient and durable, contrasting sharply with the brittle nature of the structures that once confined him. Though the journey toward liberation is painful, Reign ends with a glimmer of hope. It affirms that a new beginning is always possible for those with the courage to shatter their own confines and confront the naked, authentic truth of their own existence.