University of Rest and Relax came from his thought which is “sebuah universitas tak bersubsidi dan tak diakui.”

This exhibition is a way to reexamine the journey of the life and works of ceramics artist Keng Sien who passed away in March 2014. This exhibition in Salihara which ended today displayed his early artworks that appear to have more of baroque and architectural traits and also his works from the last years of his life.

“I also think about nature. Amid all the modernity of this city, we must always remember nature, because it can serve as our guide and help us to avoid getting lost inside that contradiction.”

Regarding his works, it has shown that especially in “Tertawa” series that the sculpture represents humor yet satire expressions. His inspirations also came from the place where he lives which is this city, Jakarta. He described Jakarta as a city of his sparring partner. 

Other works also uses several objects such as shells, twigs, and etc, which was placed altogether with the ceramics.

“Sometimes it attacks me, other times it shows me the way to the bright side. And although, I’m very concerned about the negative aspects of the city, I always try to focus more on Jakarta’s positive side.”

He also believes that this city has many hidden potentials but are still afraid to show up. Salihara has always been a place to visit on the weekends. When I arrived here I was with a group of foreigners visitors which lead me by asking them several questions. I was wondering where did they get the information about this exhibition, the three women came from Australia just for a short visit and they saw the information about this exhibition from the newspaper. Sad to know that even foreigners do appreciate our culture and seek to know more.

All in all Keng Sien works produced a great masterpiece wrapped in simplicity.