Art and artists in society in Indonesia: future tense

Art and artists have long held an important position in Indonesian society—in politics, in movements for social and environmental justice, community development, education, commercial design and contemporary life. After two decades of enormous social change on global and local scales, what role will art and artists play in Indonesia’s future?

On 11 March, The Australian National University (ANU) Indonesia Institute presented a webinar addressing this question across diverse fields including curatorship, art history, ‘artivism’, experimental and research-based art, regional development and education. The webinar will also contribute to an edited volume on Indonesian art, under review with ANU Press.

The panel and audience responded to the following themes:

• Curatorial practice and its contribution to intellectual debate on the national and international stage now and in the future.
• Art history/historiography and its contribution to understandings of art’s role broader Indonesian history: present and future challenges.
• Artistic and curatorial practice outside of the major centres: recent developments and future challenge
• Interdisciplinary collaboration in experimental and research-based art: recent developments and future challenges.
• Pedagogy and politics in artistic practice: new directions within old discourses.

The panel featured Anissa Rahadiningtyas (PhD Candidate, Cornell University), Arham Rahman (curator and artistic director), I Made Bayak (artist), Alia Swastika (Director, Yogyakarta Biennale Foundation) and Karina Roosvita (Artist and researcher).