Amir Sidharta
Indonesian Art Connects the World at the World Bank and IMF Headquarters
Indonesia will host the International Monetary Fund – World Bank Group Annual Meetings 2018 in Bali this year. To promote the event, the Indonesian Government has planned art exhibitions in the IMF and World Bank Headquarters in Washington DC. An exhibition of Indonesian Contemporary Art will be installed at the “Gallery” atrium of IMF’s HQ
Naufal Abshar’s: Les Demoiselles de Jakarta
The imagery that Naufal Abshar presents in his paintings are, perhaps more often than otherwise, not easy to accept. Th HA HA painting series is granted him recognition, exposing his name to the world art scene. Photo by Amir Sidharta/NOW!JAKARTA During a selection of his works in a group exhibition in the United States recently,
Mansyur Mas’ud, Belitung, and His Relationship with Indonesian Art
Not too many people realise that the island of Belitung has had a small yet rather remarkable relationship with Indonesian art. Full by Mansyur Mas’ud. the painting manifests the reality of densely populated settlements in Indonesia. Photo courtesy of Amir Sidharta/NOW!JAKARTA Although Raden Saleh never actually went to Belitung, in 1855 he painted a portrait of John
Indonesian Art Scene Boosted by the Games, Not the Other Way Round
On 15 November 2017, the Salvator Mundi, c. 1500, a painting believed to be a Leonardo da Vinci, was sold at an auction in New York for a price of USD 450.3 million, setting a new world record for the price of paintings ever sold. It is said that in 1958 it was sold at
Through Art, an Inextricable Link with Japan
In August the famous Ratna Sari Dewi, Sukarno’s fifth wife, stopped by the Indonesia Spirit of the World exhibition featuring the art collection of Indonesia’s Presidential palace to see Basoeki Abdullah’s Under the Moonlight painting. She posed for the painting over half a century ago, but seemed to recall vividly that she was dressed in
Agus Djaya: Once Victorious, Later Neglected
In 1947, two Indonesian painters— siblings Agus and Otto Djaya—arrived in the Netherlands. To place this in context, we have to remember that while Indonesia had proclaimed Independence on 17 August 1945, not long thereafter the Dutch military with the support of Allied Forces returned to reclaim sovereignty over their former colony. They forced the Indonesian
Kandura: Shaping the Modern Kenduri
In 2005, three recent graduates of Bandung’s Institute of Technology Arts and Design Faculty started a venture which they called Kandura. Tisa Granicia and Bathsebha Satyaalangghya (Ghia) both majored in Ceramic Arts, while Fauzy Prasetya majored in Product Design. A few years later, they added Nuri Fatimah, who has a Textile Crafts background, as a
Art Time Capsule
Recently, I have been doing research on the history of art exhibitions in Indonesia prior to 1965. The availability of a few online sources in the Netherlands and Australia that are open to the public has helped tremendously. Most important art exhibitions seem to have been announced, previewed or reviewed in the new papers, particularly
