Parasite Lottery – An Alternative Funding Model For Art Institutions

lottery of Indonesia

The lottery is a popular gambling activity in Indonesia. This activity can be found in every region of the country. Often, people play this game in the evening or during weekends. Nevertheless, it is illegal in some regions of the country. This is why most people in Indonesia prefer to play international lotteries, such as USA Powerball or Europe Euromillions.

Parasite Lottery: An Alternative Funding Model for Art Institutions

Inspired by the arisan, a commons-oriented microcrediting system in Indonesian culture that facilitates a collective saving and social bonding, Parasite Lottery is an alternative funding model for art institutions. It was developed with the aim of injecting a lottery model into art funding and to investigate ways of redistributing funds within an art context.

The Parasite Lottery combines a lottery model with a series of gatherings around the lottery event, including a talk and music performance. The music, produced by Wok The Rock in collaboration with Yogykarta-based musician Frau (Leilani Hermiasih), aims to address selected urgent topics in the political-economy and funding systems in the field of contemporary art.

Artists and cultural workers in Indonesia are under a heavy economic pressure. This is a consequence of a number of factors, such as the lack of government funding in the field of art.

A number of artists and other cultural workers are in need of a safe working environment to maintain their livelihoods. They seek a sustainable solution that also addresses issues such as precarity and the debt economy.