Henny Scott writes on an important milestone in the Indonesian art world ART BALI will showcase both the masters and emerging talents in the country’s contemporary art scene
THE much anticipated inaugural edition of Art Bali with its highly appropriate theme — ‘Beyond the Myths’ will take place from 9 October till 9 November 2018. Looking at the roster of artists exhibiting there, it certainly deserves serious attention from art buffs, or for that matter, anyone who’s interested in Indonesia’s contemporary art scene. The exhibition will be held at Bali Collection, in the Nusa Dua tourism precinct and is being organised by Heri Pemad Art Management (HPAM), who has recently put together the 11th edition of ArtJog or Yogyakarta Art Fair to resounding acclamation.
Made Wianta Triangle War for ART BALI
An integral part of the art market ecosystem, this international-scale contemporary art exhibition brings together terrific museum-quality contemporary artworks created by 34 artists from Indonesia and other countries. Jointly curated by Ignatia Nilu and Rifky Effendy, the showcase will include multi-medium works from painting, sculpture, photography, site-specific installations and other new mediums.
Amongst the line-up of participating artists are homegrown celebrity Balinese artists such as Made Wianta, Mangu Putra, Made Djirna, Nyoman Erawan as also luminaries such as Agus Suwage, Ashley Bickerton, Entang Wiharso, Heri Dono, Eddi Prabandono and many others. All of them have been enjoying highly gratifying international success for decades now.
Uji Handoko E S (03)_Theorem #1-5
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Fully supported by the Indonesian Agency of Creative Economy (BEKRAF), which recognized very early the huge spurt in interest and growth in Bali’s art scene, the exhibition is an excellent platform for innovative artist commissions and dynamic public programmes for an international audience. As one of the world’s most popular holiday destinations, Bali enjoys strong visitation, particularly so during the peak tourist periods, when visitors to the fair are encouraged to book their trip well ahead.
The organisers of Art Bali anticipate that the exhibition will be a magnet for huge throngs of visitors as it coincides with the IMF-World Bank annual summit, which is taking place from 8th to 14th October 2018, in the same vicinity.
Some of the artists whose works will be featured at BALI ART (above left): Heri Dono and (above right): Mangu Putra, standing next to Henny Scott
The annual meetings of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) bring together central bankers, ministers of finance and development, parliamentarians, private sector executives from many countries. Visitors should keep in mind that during this period there will be security-related restrictions to gaining access to the exhibition, so we strongly recommend they step-up and pre-arrange their visit with the fair organisers.
Going forward, Art Bali will be held annually as it serves an excellent platform for artists and a place for discovery, creating thus, the perfect opportunity to mingle with artists, dealers, collectors, curators, critics, patrons, and other advocates of the visual arts, who all congregate here in a convivial environment under one roof.
IndoConnect Art Correspondent, Henny Scott, will be attending the opening of Art Bali on October 9th and will be reporting further on this lively showcase in the next edition of IndoConnect. We hope that many IndoConnect readers will revv up plans to make a trip to catch Art Bali.
Photos of the artworks appear here with the kind permission of the respective artists
Heri Dono – Dinosaur Spirit
