Departing from the 1995 Non-Aligned Countries Contemporary Art Exhibition that carved a chapter in the collection of the Galeri Nasional Indonesia, this exhibition investigates relationships amongst artists, their practices and their allegiances, regardless of their nationalities and supposed political identities .
Para Sekutu yang Tidak Bisa Berkata Tidak, Galeri Nasional Indonesia, Jakarta
27 January - 27 February 2022
Open: Monday - Sunday, 10 AM to 7 PM. Closes on public holidays
Departing from the 1995 Non-Aligned Countries Contemporary Art Exhibition that carved a chapter in the collection of the Galeri Nasional Indonesia, this exhibition investigates relationships amongst artists, their practices and their allegiances, regardless of their nationalities and supposed political identities. Please pre-book your visitation slot via
Audio guides from the exhibition “Para Sekutu yang Tidak Bisa Berkata Tidak” have been made available in the following space for audiences to enjoy the exhibition after it closes.
The works in this part of the exhibition state or imply a moment for sharing food together, regardless of the social, economic and political conditions of the time.
In this section of the exhibition, the festivities and liveliness become homogenizing, categorizing or placing people in one kind of tendency, label or ideology.
Some of the works in this exhibition, materialize familial relations in an almost literal manner; through blood relations. While, other works, present relations, between various aspects which are formed internally or with other characteristics which are enlivened on the inside.
Jimged documented the removal of people from their lands as a result of this land clearing for Jakarta’s Eastern Flood Canal. This photographic series showed the impact of this land clearing process on eleven subdistrics in East Jakarta and two subdistricts in North Jakarta.
This work consists of descriptions and instructions for a scene where the audience is encouraged to represent the idea of displacement as has been experienced by people in numerous public spaces.
Through this painting, Danarto reflects on universal values concerning the struggle between good and evil as well as how many other people become victims of this struggle.
Heinrich Vogeler is associated with the development of the Jugendstil (youth style) that was prominent during the early part of the 20th century. Vogeler’s works used strong lines and representations of workers, which were an adoption of a visual approach used in posters and Soviet imagery.
This painting is a double portrait. Kustiyah creates a painting of her torso, created by husband Edhi Sunarso. By painting what has been ‘drawn’ by another person, Kustiyah expresses how she views herself as well as how she conceives Edhi’s gaze towards her.
Through this work, Trinh Thi voices her criticism of the surveillance and intimidation of artists in Vietnam. Unsubtitled, through its political relevance, occupies an important position in the development of contemporary art in Vietnam.
In this trapunto painting, Pacita features Kumbakarna, brother of Rahwana, a main antagonistic giant in the epic of Ramayana. In her works, Pacita adapts traditional forms of expressions by exploring her inner self and recompose them as her personal expressions.
The video Mao-Hope March shows a demonstration in New York which was co-ordinated by Öyvind Fahlström on 1st September 1966. Bob Fass, a radio broadcaster, invited passersby to make their comments on the demonstration. Then, Fass would ask, “are you happy?” The answers were frequently casual and humorous and contrasted with the political tension of the late 1960s in the US caused by the Vietnam war.
Through using thin and thick brush strokes, which are occasionally transparent, and with bright colours and leaving much empty space, Rusli’s works follow the styles of traditional Japanese and Chinese paintings. A typical example of his works, includes Bunga (1956) which was made using water colours.
Unlike many works by artists who were associated with LEKRA, which mainly focused on one object or scene, Semsar’s paintings are close with the practice of socialist realism which was present in Eastern Europe, which often connected many events into one pictorial field.
The painting, Das Karussell, was painted by Walter Spies five years before he moved to Bali in 1927. In contrast to the paintings of Bali’s natural environment htat he would later become known for, this painting shows a busy scene at a fair with a carousel as its focus.
In Les Noces, Wilfredo Lam plays with form. The painting is filled with figures which merge into human form, animals and plants. The faces, hands and legs are seen to be holding on or uniting with forms such as swords, candelabras, a crescent moon, a horse shoe, spears and wheels. Some of these objects come out from the painting, creating a disturbing, violent and ecstatic scene.
This painting is an expression of Wilfredo’s care for his homeland. Even though he lived in Europe after the coup d’etat in 1952, Wilfredo continued to follow news of the struggle of the Cuban people against the Fulgencio Batista dictatorship.
