Introduction

LIR is a curator collective consisting of Mira Asriningtyas and Dito Yuwono, emerging from LIR Space, an art initiative they established in Yogyakarta in 2011 to cultivate a supportive environment for artistic and discursive experimentation. Their practice centers on research-driven, multi-disciplinary collaborations that sustain transgenerational memory and shared histories. Key projects include the long-running Curated by LIR (2018–2023), presenting solo exhibitions by artists such as Mella Jaarsma, Jompet Kuswidananto, and Heri Dono among others; Transient Museum of a Thousand Conversations (ISCP New York, 2020; OUR Museum Taipei, 2023; Cité Internationale des Arts, 2025); and 900mdpl (2017, 2019, 2022), a site-specific institution in their hometown Kaliurang—a village under Mt. Merapi—dedicated to preserving collective memory through socially engaged archiving, international residencies, publications, and exhibitions. They also co-curated Pollination 3: Of Hunters & Gatherers (2020–2021), a multi-sited exhibition, symposium, and journal across Southeast Asia.

Individually, Dito works as an artist-curator, an alumni of ICI and RAW Academie: CURA, exploring collectivity, personal history, and place-based memory through site-specific interventions and audio-visual installations, with residencies and exhibitions across Asia, Europe, US, and Australia. Mira, an independent curator and writer trained at De Appel and Utrecht University, investigates polycentric and ecological knowledge systems through a decolonial lens, curating internationally and publishing widely. In 2024, they were appointed Directors of Cemeti Institute for Art and Society – the pioneering contemporary art institution in Indonesia, approaching institution-building as a speculative, cross-border extension of their collaborative practice.