From Orde Baru to Reformasi: A Survey of Indonesian Art in the Last Five Decades

Speaker: Tan Siuli, Curator, Singapore Art Museum

The contemporary art scene in Indonesia is one of the most dynamic in the region. This presentation will examine key political and cultural markers in Indonesia’s recent history and their impact on artistic practices, spanning the beginnings of contemporary art in the 1970s with the Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru (New Art Movement), to the strident sociopolitical commentaries of the 1990s, to the more introspective and personally-inflected articulations of the Reformasi (Reformation) period. Factors shaping current developments in Indonesian contemporary art will also be considered, such as the impact of the art market, the rise of fundamentalist groups, the role of private and ground-up initiatives, and the desire of Indonesian artists to re-examine and recuperate traditions and cultural identity in an increasingly globalised and homogenous world.

About The Speaker
Tan Siuli is a curator at the Singapore Art Museum, and oversees its Indonesia collection. She holds a Master in Art History from University College London, UK, a BA in Literature and Art History from the University of Nottingham, UK, and Postgraduate Diploma in Education from NIE, Singapore. Her past exhibitions include After Utopia: Revisiting the Ideal in Asian Contemporary Art, Unearthed, Chimera (The Collectors Show: Asian Contemporary Art from Private Collections), Classic Contemporary: Contemporary Southeast Asian Art from the Singapore Art Museum Collection; and FX Harsono:Testimonies. She was a Curator-Mentor in Curating Lab 2012, a co-curator of the Singapore Biennale 2013, a member of the Advisory Committee to the Indonesian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2013, and a Juror for the Bandung Contemporary Art Awards.