ARTJOG, one of Indonesia’s biggest contemporary fine art events, is to return on July 25 with a special project that highlights the relationship between humans and nature.

This year’s iteration also marks ARTJOG’s rebranding of itself as an art festival rather than an art fair.

ARTJOG’s spokesperson Amelberga Astri said that ARTJOG had appointed five artists to create works for a special project that aims to rethink human impacts on the environment. This special project replaces the commissioning of works that ARTJOG had done in previous years.

Among the five artists is Handiwirman Saputra, who recently grabbed headlines after being invited to exhibit his work at this year’s Venice Art Biennale in Italy.

For ARTJOG, Handiwirman is to create a huge artwork entitled Taman Organik Plastik (Plastic Organic Park) on the front yard of the Jogja National Museum (JNM) — the main venue of ARTJOG for the last few years.

Meanwhile, Teguh Ostenrik is to present an iron sculpture entitled Daun Khatulistiwa (Leaf of the Equator), which takes inspiration from teakwood leaves.

After ARTJOG ends, the sculpture is to be planted underwater in Wakatobi, South Sulawesi, to provide a place for corals to grow.

The special project also features noted filmmaker Riri Riza, Bandung-based artist Sunaryo and Yogyakarta artist duo Indieguerillas (who are to collaborate with bamboo activist Singgih S. Kartono from Temanggung, Central Java).

Held under the official name of ARTJOG MMXIX Arts in Common, this year’s ARTJOG seeks to solidify its status as an art festival.

ARTJOG director Heri Pemad said that since its inception in 2008, the annual art event has always embraced artists from various fields, ranging from fine arts and filmmaking to music and dance.

“Thus, the right term for it is festival. A contemporary fine art festival,” he told a press briefing on Thursday.

The new status does not eliminate the organizer’s role to sell the exhibited artworks. Only, Heri said, this time ARTJOG would not be burdened with a sales target.

This year’s ARTJOG curator, Agung Hujatnika, said that the theme of Arts in Common and its subtheme, Common Space, describe ARTJOG’s role as a shared space for artists to present works, for art lovers to enjoy and appreciate the works and for other parties to get involved in the event.

The theme would be used for at least the next two ARTJOG events in 2020 and 2021, Agung said.

Forty individual and group artists from Indonesia and abroad are to showcase their works in the annual art event. The list includes artists from Austria, Australia, the Philippines and Singapore.

The list consists of artists who received special invitations and those who made it onto the shortlist in the open-call process. Agung said that the committee received no less than 800 submissions during the four-month curation.

To enjoy the art festival, visitors need to pay Rp 50,000 (US$3.56) per person, except during the opening day on July 25.

Aside from the exhibitions, a series of daily performances are to also add festivity to the month-long event.

Just like in the previous years, ARTJOG is to present a Jogja Art Week guide book, which contains information about various art events held in Yogyakarta and neighboring areas.

“Through the guidebook, we can [...] inform ARTJOG visitors about the concurrent art events,” Heri said.

This year, ARTJOG collaborates with the Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) and the Statistics Indonesia (BPS) to conduct a survey on the impact of ARTJOG on the sectors.

“That way we can show the government that art events also make positive impacts on society,” said Heri.

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