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Spotlight on artists at 'Contemporary Worlds: Indonesia' exhibition
A short list on artists featured at the "Contemporary Worlds: Indonesia" exhibition, which showcases the work of 24 Indonesian contemporary artists and is open until Oct. 27.
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'Staging Collectivism' installation by Jompet Kuswidananto exhibited in the 'Contemporary Worlds: Indonesia' at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, Australia. (JP/Wening Gitomartoyo)
T
he ongoing “Contemporary Worlds: Indonesia” art exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia (NGA), Canberra, features the work of 24 established and emerging Indonesian artists.
It is the largest exhibition of contemporary Indonesian art ever in Australia, with topics that range from the art market, sexuality and gender roles to the environment in the 21st century in the form of paintings, sculptures, installations, moving images, photography, textiles, live performances and a film series.
The exhibiting artists include Tisna Sanjaya, Melati Suryodarmo, Entang Wiharso, Eko Nugroho, Tromarama, Octora, I Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih, Tita Salina and Albert Yonathan Setyawan.
Open until Oct. 27, the last few weeks of the exhibition still offer the opportunity to experience the compelling and intriguing works of the artists.
As co-curator Alia Swastika said, “By focusing on Indonesia after 1998, where suddenly everyone was allowed to have a voice, we would like to introduce narratives that were previously hidden. The stereotype of Indonesia after 1998 was that it was a democratic and free country. But was it really so?”
She took for instance an installation by Jompet Kuswidananto, titled “Staging Collectivism”, which showed a pick-up truck filled with figures in T-shirts of political parties.
“Before 1998, everything felt repressed and we had no voice,” she said. “Afterward, suddenly anyone can make any output through the mass media and on the streets. Our lives were inundated with voices and noises. That’s where Jompet got his idea that when there are too many sounds, we can’t hear anything and voices become noises.”
