Jakarta Biennale XIII: Of Human and International Relations

AsiaViews, Edition: 01/VI/Jan/2009
Jakarta Biennale XIII:
Of Human and International Relations.

Jakarta Biennale Blog

The Jakarta Biennale is the oldest Biennale in Indonesia. Now in its 13th edition, the Jakarta Biennale, organized under the auspices of the Jakarta Art Council, turns its attention to the city and the spaces within it.

Like any other metropolitan city, Jakarta with its 10 million inhabitants, suffers from the neglect of the human individual. Commercial gains, economic profit, greed and a chilling indifference have made the city a place with little space for the cultivation of the human spirit.

Through activities held in public spaces throughout the city, the 13th Jakarta Biennale attempts to strike a balance.

The early signs of the biennale’s conceptual design was indicated in The Women Photographers exhibition Mata Perempuan (Woman’s Eye) which kicked off the Jakarta Biennale in December 2008 . Though the exhibition itself was not up to standard in terms of quality and display, it expressed the basic problems of the big city that the 13th Jakarta Biennale wishes to tackle. The images portrayed were not, however, about the use of spaces such as megablocks, industrial estates and malls that rob the city of its green, but rather about the feeling within that construction: aloneness and alienation.

The Jakarta biennale is not the first biennale that relates to a city. It is, however, the first in Asia that gives attention to the social problems that a city spawns, not so much its historical buildings.

The 13th Jakarta Biennale, which comes under the main theme “ARENA”, is divided into three sub-thematic categories: zona pemahaman (comprehension zone), zona pertarungan (battle zone) and zona cair (fluid zone). In the city construct, where the spaces tend to be filled with economic, industrial and commercial concerns, the Jakarta Biennale wishes to create another space, one that spurs, creates and appreciates the arts thus creating balance to the human spirit. With that purpose in mind, both the battle zone and the comprehensive zone initiated art for community participation in public spaces.

Apart from its local focus, the 13th Jakarta Biennale takes pride of place among the international biennales held in Asia. For the first time since 1985 and in the history of Indonesian biennales, as well as in Southeast Asia, the 13th Jakarta Biennale explored the similarities of culture, tradition and art praxis between the various art works across Southeast Asia.
On 6 February, the exhibition of what is called the Fluid Zones, opens at the National Gallery in Jakarta, until 27 February.

The Fluid Zones comprise two parts: On the Map and Traffic.
On the Map features works by 14 Indonesian artists in their 30s and 13 artists of the same age group from the region, many of whom are well-known. Among the Indonesian artists are the very popular Eko Nugroho , Kus Widananto aka Jompet, Handiwirman Saputra, Tintin Wulia side by side with first-time biennale participants like Videobabes. Artists from the region include, among others, Dona Ong (Singapore), Vincent Leong (Malaysia), Montri Toemsombat (Thailand), Jason Banal (Philippines), and Hoang Doang Kam (Vietnam).

Traffic shows works by artists of various ages such as Victoria Cattoni (Australia), Stani Michiels (Belgium), Sylvain Saily (France), Nadiah Bamadhaj and Sherman Ong (Malaysia), Sara Nuytemans (the Netherlands), Phil Collins (U.K.), Adria Julia (Spain), Uschi Huber (Germany) and Takuro Kotaka (Japan), all of whom have had residency in one of the countries in the region.
A catalog will be published with essays by curators, critics, and arts lecturers focused on the Southeast Asian art scene. The contributors include the Netherlands-born Dr Thomas Berghuis, currently residing in Australia, who will give an analysis of artists’ mobility in the region. Prof Patrick D. Flores from the Philippines will review the history of Southeast Asian contemporary art, whilst Adeline Ooi from Malaysia will explore the trends and current issues in the works of young artists from the region. Indonesia will be represented by Enin Supriyanto with his review of the latest development of art infrastructure in Southeast Asia. Agung Hujatnikajennong, curator of the Jakarta Biennale Fluid Zones 09, will elaborate on the curatorial theme of the Jakarta Biennale ’09 and the works in the exhibition.

On 8 February, 3 – 5 pm, there will be talks given by artists at the National Gallery.

On 10 February, 9 am – 4 pm, a seminar will be held on Southeast Asian contemporary art featuring Dr Thomas Berghuis, Prof Patrick Flores and Nuraini Juliasturi as speakers.

For more info, call The Jakarta Biennale at The Jakarta Art Council at +62 21 319 37639, 3162780, 39899634, or Iwan at +62 8159213952. E-mail: Jakarta.biennale.09@dkj.or.id www.jakartabiennale09.com

By Carla Bianpoen