Indonesia New Art Movement (1975-1989)
About the research
Scholars, critics and art practitioners have generally agreed that Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru Indonesia or GSRBI (Indonesia New Art Movement) has played an influential art part in shaping the development of contemporary art in Indonesia. However, there is very little reliable material or comprehensive information that can be found about GSRBI.
To our knowledge, the only official document available is the book titled “Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru Indonesia” edited by Jim Supangkat (Gramedia, Jakarta, 1979). Since then, there has been no new information, in-depth reviews or critical analyses about the role, relevance and legacy of GSRBI in the context of Indonesian art history and within the wider Southeast Asian region.
This new monograph wants to fill in the gaps of information about GSRBI and provide a clearer understanding of the collective 40 years on. Through a collection of specially commissioned essays by writers with keen interests in GSRBI and art practice in Indonesia and/or Southeast Asia during the 1970s, the publication hopes to uncover and highlight particular areas and arguments that have been previously overlooked and re-assess GSRBI’s role and impact in art historical discourse of Indonesia and beyond. We hope that our upcoming publication project can help provide a deeper understanding about GSRBI to the art community and interested members of the public.
As part of realizing the a monograph, we build this archive. Let us begin with explaining how we build this archive. First of all, what we consider as data includes:
- Catalog, leaflet, booklet, artist-publications, book
- News, articles, reviews, critic from local, national and international mass media
- Papers, discussion pointers (published and unpublished)
- Bachelor, master and PhD thesis and masters
- Audio recordings of interviews, discussions, debates and seminar
- Photographs from various sources (the artist, colleagues and media)
- Artwork documentations
For this research, we started with looking for catalogs, exhibition leaflets, artwork photos, reviews in mass media, essays in various publications, etc, that are made for and during the movement’s existingperiod (1975-1989). (At least) Two activities are often connected to GSRBI—Desember Hitam/Black December 1974 and Seni Kepribadian Apa/PIPA (Seni Sono Gallery, Yogyakarta, 1978). The first is due to the fact that all of those who sent the griefing flower arrangement (five artists) later on became the first members of GSRBI. The latter is due to the fact that many of the GSRBI exponents are involved in making PIPA exhibition happened. So, both Black December and PIPA are well documented within this archive.
We began with collecting data from the Indonesian Visual Art Archive (IVAA) and Dewan Kesenian Jakarta/Jakarta Arts Council (DKJ). And then we look for more in HB Jassin, the artists collections of files, and mass media archives.
Translations (from ID to EN) of the archive is done along the way since 2012 through various sources, supporters and means, namely FX Harsono who commissioned Elly Kent and Mitha Budhyarto; Asia Art Archive that collaborated with IVAA; the National Gallery of Singapore through FX Harsono; and ourselves.
Research and editorial team
Enin Supriyanto with Grace Samboh and Ratna Mufida
Contributors
Amanda Katherine Rath (GER)
Aminuddin TH Siregar (IDN)
Bambang Bujono (IDN)
Brigitta Isabella & Syafiatudina (IDN)
Haruko Kumakura (JPN)
Hendro Wiyanto (IDN)
Hyphen (IDN)
Mahardika Yudha (IDN)
Nuraini Juliastuti (AUS/IDN)
Patrick D. Flores (PHI)
TK Sabapathy (SIN)
With the kind support of
Indonesian Visual Art Archive (IVAA)
Dana SAM untuk Seni dan Lingkungan (SAM Fund for Arts & Ecology)
Exponents of Seni Rupa Baru (Exponents of New Art Movement)
Articulation & public encounters
- 2024. [Publication]. Kultum GSRBI (Short lecture on Indonesia New Art Movement). Hyphen (Rachel Katherina, Ratna Mufida, Grace Samboh). Watch here.
- 2024. [Talk]. Book discussion.