Digging up the Symbol of an Era
The Yogyakarta Biennale III in 1992 was an event that was different from previous exhibitions in the Indonesian world of art, in particular because another independently organized event, the ‘Binal Experimental Art’ emerged in response to this event. The Binal Experimental Art event was a reaction to the Biennale, which also strengthened the arts atmosphere at that time.
The existence of both of these events marked the beginning of new changes in the art world, such as: the emergence of a new generation of visual artists born after the 1945-50 generation and a reactionary awareness of the arts market and political situation. Also the ‘Painting Biennale’ event title was changed to a broader title of ‘Arts Biennale’. Lastly, particularly in defining a significant shift in perspective: the meaning, function and position of modern art has changed for artists and for the community.
Pius Sigit Kuncoro has been researching the archives at IVAA since February 2009. He also reclassified and re-read information from the database that was related to the Binal Experimental Art event. He has also conducted further research by re-interviewing some of the concerned presenters from that event. This project will run for six months. Some assumptions and questions that have emerged to date, which he will further investigate, are:
- The 1992 Binal Experimental Art event, which was an indicator of a new awareness that incorporated a global orientation and an intellectual awareness in art and cultural practices in Indonesia, was a shift from the previous nationalistic and modernist ideology.
- Was this event also the beginning of the use of the definition of ‘contemporary’ as a legitimate term in the arts?
- How far did this matter relate to the social-cultural as well as the economic-political situation at the time?
- There are some patterns that always repeat in cultural transformation in Indonesia, which impact on art practices. What are these patterns and how do they work?
As an archives and documentation institute that always strives to record and research history, IVAA established this Archive Retro project as a manifestation of these attempts.
The research also resulted as a significant point of view within the exhibition, “21 Years of Biennale Jogja” based on findings by the curator, Grace Samboh.
