Southeast Asia, a region that since the colonial era has been a central area for the practice of colonialism. Even during the Cold War, the region became a place where massive proxy wars were fought. Southeast Asia has a complex social and political landscape, but on the other hand, its people are cosmopolitan and dynamic. With an equally dynamic art landscape, Southeast Asia is now receiving special attention in the global art ecosystem.
With limited infrastructure, galleries and markets, art practice in Southeast Asia is mostly driven by art collectives and initiatives. Quite different from other regions, contemporary art practice in Southeast Asia revolves around alternative spaces and practices. Over the past three decades, artist collectives and initiatives in Southeast Asia have played an important role in the production of knowledge through the arts, as well as the distribution of knowledge that is more rooted in society.
Social, political conditions and the dynamics of the global art ecosystem have greatly influenced the vision, paradigm and practice of art in Southeast Asia. The effort to map and read the position then becomes important, especially to solidify fellow Southeast Asian contemporary art activists.
For this reason, a workshop and public symposium entitled “Critical Playground: Artists Initiatives and Collective in South East Asia” was organized in collaboration with Biennale Jogja and Goethe Institute Indonesien. It was held at Gedung Ajiyasa, Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta on October 21-22, 2019. The workshop and symposium mapped and reflected on the trajectory of collectives and artists’ initiatives in Southeast Asia since the late 1980s.
Mapping Collective Practice at Southeast Asia in a Decade
This forum discussed how Southeast Asian artist collectives and initiatives have become an important part of the global art ecosystem. In Southeast Asia, they play a role in providing spaces for artistic production and presentation, enabling critical reflection, being responsive to civic issues, and engaging in alternative forms of education and research. Not to forget, artistic, curatorial, and governance practices that take place organically are important to be articulated to become a kind of shared method.
In this meeting it became important to see how the post-1998 period became a pivotal point for artists in Southeast Asia, which became a turning point for artists to celebrate freedom of expression after the collapse of several authoritarian regimes. Interestingly, because this meeting was intergenerational, we also heard how each generation has diverse opinions on how politics itself is defined, and the response in the art ecosystem to the changing political climate.
Collectives such as Cemeti Gallery (at the time), Project 304, Artist Village Singapore, for example, saw politics as a way of giving voice to the silenced. While later generations such as Green Papaya, ruangrupa, Ruang MES 56, see how political work is also about building and encouraging social and artistic experimentation, as well as deepening the work of knowledge production. Young collectives born after 2010 such as Hysteria in Semarang, Jatiwangi in West Java, Baan Norg in Thailand, try to define local community-based work as a political statement.
The emergence of artist/curator-run spaces/initiatives in the Southeast Asian art scene is often discussed as a result of the lack of art-related infrastructure in the region, especially in the first decade of their existence. After that period, the discourse seems to shift to one that is connected to artists’ responses to the socio-political context, reacting to the strong control of the state and regime, or the global situation of the art scene itself with the power relations that surround it.
This has led generations of artists to create specific art ecosystems, different from the established western art ecosystems. In the workshop, several senior artists’ initiatives shared their experiences. Cemeti Institute for Arts and Society in Indonesia, for example, was established in 1988 as an exhibition space that was willing to accept the experiments of young artists, amidst the strict military and government control during the New Order era. Cemeti became a space for artistic practice as well as alternative political imagery among the younger generation of artists.
Meanwhile, the Post Museum in Singapore in the late 1980s became a place for artists to gather, exchange ideas and create exhibitions that broke the routine of the city. Art discourse at that time took place in public spaces, and art played an important role in pushing art and public issues in civic issues. Similar initiatives have also sprung up in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Timor Leste.
Twenty-four art collectives and initiatives joined the workshop and exchanged their work with each other. They responded to the need for a space for artistic expression and experimentation, while also responding to their respective socio-political contexts. In its development, the landscape and map of artists’ initiatives in Southeast Asia underwent many changes along with the transformation of external influences, the establishment of new institutions, and the political dynamics in each country.
From Workshop to Public Symposium
On October 21, 2019, the fluid and reflective workshop in Yogyakarta became a venue for exchanging experiences and critical reflections on the journey of the last three decades. Then on October 22, 2019, the keywords and main ideas reflected upon were discussed with a wider public in a public symposium, still held at Gedung Ajiyasa, Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Yogyakarta. Interestingly, the public symposium was also attended by young artists and curators who also initiated art collectives from the new generation.
The symposium then became a space for in-depth discussions to retrace the vision, paradigm, and practice of contemporary art today. It also connected with a wider public from different generations and backgrounds. Discussions about the direction and new mapping of various art collectives and initiatives are open to the public. This is important to respond to the dynamic movement of culture.
An artist from KL, Sao Bin Yap, reflected on how important collectives are in today’s global art ecosystem, both as methods and platforms. Especially on the momentum of this public workshop and symposium, a space is needed to hear and share between collectives in Southeast Asia. Because according to Sao Bin: “We can find a fundamental basis to work together, in the different backgrounds and views between collectives. To then knit it into a common spirit”.
Through this meeting, it is important to underline that artist collectives and initiatives in Southeast Asia have become important agencies in the contemporary art landscape in the region. They not only provide space for the production and presentation of works, but also encourage critical reflection, nurture community, and engage in alternative practices of education and research. Their work has shaped the development of art discourse and practice in Southeast Asia over the past three decades.
For this reason, platforms such as Biennale, especially in this context Biennale Jogja, are important in maintaining networks and distributing knowledge about art collectives. Biennale Jogja exists within the exhibition atmosphere of the Equator series, which in 2019 focuses on Southeast Asia. It is important then for Biennale Jogja to connect and spark reflection for art collectives in Southeast Asia. As Alia Swastika reflects: “This momentum wants to invite artists and practitioners to reflect on what has happened in the last 13 years, especially in the changing socio-political situation. Thus, we can map, position and respond appropriately.”
Art collectives and initiatives in Southeast Asia live in multiple challenges, socio-politically changing with often unpredictable dynamics. For this reason, the meeting in Yogyakarta is important to re-map the landscape of artists’ initiatives in Southeast Asia. To articulate the dynamics that occur, then imagine the solidarity that can be pursued together.