When flamboyant entrepreneur Ciputra passed away in Singapore on Nov. 27, Indonesia’s arts and culture community felt a great loss. The nation’s arts and culture community lauds Ciputra for having ushered in new awareness through his “artpreneurship”. Ciputra repeatedly stated that, ever since he became acquainted with works of fine art, he always wanted to know their artists better. For him, artists and their creations are inseparable and they should both be positioned on an equal footing. “I’ve often noticed that when artworks are considerably honored, there’s no mention of their artists, and when they are sold at high prices, their creators enjoy nothing of the economic gain. This is unfair,” Ciputra once said, referring to painter Vincent van Gogh as a classic example. The traditional thought separating the economic aspect o...