Accessible art: A woman walks through the “We’re All Millionaires” exhibition, featuring affordable artworks by amateur and emerging artists. JP/Anissa S. Febrina

For every mainstream current, you can be sure to find something flowing counter to it. And the art scene is certainly no different.

Consider, for example, a scene in a small clothing shop in South Jakarta – a scene that might open a window on how such counter-cultures form.

This scene takes place at night, when dozens of people crowd into the shop to buy not clothes, but art – art created for and by the many who are outside the rarefied atmosphere of galleries.

No fancy openings, no catalogues with grand narratives. No genre labels, no limitations on what “art” is. You see it, you like it, you buy it on the spot. A woman hands over several Rp 50,000 bills to the event organizer to stake her claim over something that caught her eye: A collage by a barely known artist. It’s not an investment for her, just a pure and simple urge to take home something she finds aesthetically pleasing.

“We want to make art accessible. Both for the artists and those who want to purchase it,” said Cynthia Wirjono, co-curator of the “We’re All Millionaires” exhibition.

“We’re All Millionaires” was a group show of contemporary artworks to be sold for Rp 1 million. The exhibition concept aimed to poke fun at the cultural misconceptions of the term “millionaire” and address the oddities of art economics and ownership status, the event organizer said.

“Here, not all people are able to purchase works of art, even if they want to,” Cynthia said. “And not all who purchase them actually appreciate it for what it really is: Art.”

Together with her husband Chris Kerrigan and Julian Juwardi – owner of the AOD clothing shop who lent his space for the night – Cynthia wanted to provide a space for another kind of art scene. Call it indie, if you like.

“Indie” does not mean that the works must have certain qualities to them. Some paintings and photographs are actually refreshing to see, especially works by young artists who are just stepping into the art world and by people who don’t do art for a living.

More than 30 artworks were on display, ranging from oil paintings to photographs. These works were selected from around 100 proposals that the event organizers received after inviting public submissions via emails and blog postings.

“I learned about it from emails circulating between friends. And I thought, why not give it a shot,” said 26-year-old Farid Rakun, who submitted his photographs of the Chai ceremony in Cambodia.

His photographs are more than just visual documentation of a ceremony as there, in that ceremony by a Muslim minority characterized by colorful costumes, he saw something else.

“Running around in an elongated elliptic pattern over and over again, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the fashion world’s runways,” Farid said of his work.

Farid is neither professional photographer nor artist. Although, again, that depends on how you define “artist”. Separately, at the Newseum Artspace in Central Jakarta, a youth group is making public their take on the city through photography. But not the kind of sophisticated photography you’ll find in upmarket galleries.

BauTanah, the community, has a range of members including street traders, motorcycle taxi drivers, college students and anthropologist Hadi Purnomo and senior photojournalist Don Hasman. Its headquarters are on the sidewalk alongside Cikini train station and its gallery is usually the walls of the station. It’s photography for and by the people.

This month, along with its exhibition that juxtaposes images of old Batavia with modern Jakarta, the community held a pin-hole photography workshop. Once again, by and for the people.

Introduced in 2000 by photographer Ray Bachtiar, pin-hole photography is yet another antithesis of the established practice of taking pictures with conventional cameras. With a simple tin can painted black and pierced with holes, one can take pictures as aesthetically as those using professional cameras. But there are differences, of course, and the outcome might not be perceived as “professional” work.

But the concept of the pin-hole camera has torn down the notion that photography is only possible for those who can afford expensive equipment. The Pin-hole Camera Community, with its workshops in several cities, has now reached street children, students and many of those who previously had never used a camera. The established world of art and photography might question how the quality of the art and works of movements such as “We’re All Millionaires”, the BauTanah group and the Pin-hole Camera community.

But however one judges their art, one must admit that they have made art accessible for all.

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