Contemporary Worlds Exhibition
2019’s Contemporary Worlds: Indonesia exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia brought together the works of twenty of the most exciting emerging and established modern Indonesian artists.
2019’s Contemporary Worlds: Indonesia exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia brought together the works of twenty of the most exciting emerging and established modern Indonesian artists.
Through a striking variety of artistic approaches, Contemporary Worlds: Indonesia reflected the social and political changes negotiated by Indonesia over the past 20 years. Participating artists included Eko Nugroho, Zico Albaiquni, Tisna Sanjaya, Melati Suryodarmo and FX Harsono. The exhibition included painting, sculpture, installation, moving image, photography and textile, and featured a performance program and a film series curated by renowned Indonesian film director Garin Nugroho.
‘Contemporary Worlds: Indonesia underscored the growing importance of the creative industries to the Australia-Indonesia relationship and provided a platform for our artists and creative entrepreneurs to get to know each other even more,’ said Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, Gary Quinlan.
‘This was the largest exhibition of contemporary Indonesian art ever in Australia, and one of the largest ever outside Indonesia itself. I was very pleased that the National Gallery of Australia had the vision to create this significant project. An undertaking of this size and scale will project a new image of our biggest neighbour to Australian audiences.’
Jointly curated by the National Gallery’s Asian Art and Contemporary Art curatorial teams, and drawing on Indonesian expertise, Contemporary Worlds: Indonesia featured recent works and large-scale commissions.
‘The art provided a meaningful and compelling way for Australian audiences to learn about and understand one of our most important neighbours, Indonesia,’ said National Gallery Director Nick Mitzevich.
‘The collection of work from some of Indonesia’s most dynamic artists was a captivating and profound manifestation of the massive transformation Indonesia has undergone over the last two decades.’
The National Gallery of Australia in Canberra is the national museum and cultural institution for the visual arts of Australia, displaying world-class exhibitions of Australian and international artists. There are more than 150,000 works of art in its collection, including a special gallery for Asian Art which houses an extensive Indonesian art collection.
