Naima Morelli

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5emergingindoartists
Every time a new article of mine gets published, I’m always so happy and grateful to have a job that allows me to make great discoveries and dwell on great art. That was certainly the case with this piece: “Five Emerging Indonesian Artists”, which has just been published on the webmagazine CoBo.

But of course, nothing comes without challenges. It wasn’t easy to limit myself to just five artists (or collectives, or duos), and of course I  wanted to go beyond the most obvious names that would tick the “emerging” box. On top of that, I tried to get a good ratio of women artists, that often don’t get enough press for a number of reason (I talk about that in another piece) – and yet they create amazing work. So here my version of the top five emerging Indonesian artists! Let me know what do you think, I’m happy to expand on this list in the future!

Here’s the link to the piece
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dolorosasinaga

My interview with Indonesian sculptor and artist Dolorosa Sinaga has just been published on the Italian magazine Art a Part of Cult(ure) with the title “Freedom is the foundation for everything”. In the interview we discuss political activism during the dictatorship, Jakarta vs London and the followers of… Doloism!

Here’s the link to the article

Dolorosa Sinaga’s interview has been my second in Jakarta for my infamous reportage about contemporary art in Indonesia which is now… guess what? A book! In Italian. Which you can purchase here.

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gceddysusanto

My article “Why must the East continue to be objectified? An interview with Indonesian artist Eddy Susanto” has just been published on the webmagazine Global Comment. This interview is part part of my reportage about contemporary art in Indonesia.

Here’s the link to the article

You can have more Eddy Susanto in my newly released book (in Italian)

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heri1
The one thing I have in common with Hans-Ulrich Obrist is that we have both interviewed Indonesian artist Heri Dono. Well, that interview (mine, not Hans’!) has just been published on Trouble Magazine with the title “Heri Dono: Making Fun of The King, The Gods and The People”. The interview, accompanied with my pics from Heri’s studio, is part of my reportage about contemporary art in Indonesia that… guess what? Is going to have the shape of a book pretty soon!

Here’s the link to the interview

Here’s the link to the online version of the magazine

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6

At the beginning of 2012 I started making research about Indonesian contemporary art and now I’m excited to had the chance to introduce some of these amazing artists to an Italian public through “Indonesia – Orienti Visioni Contemporanee” , a series of screening of video art in Villa Ada’s Art Project Space.
For this screening, part of MNAO Contemporary program, I wanted to show three completely different approaches to video art, presenting new-media pioneers Krisna Murti and Tintin Wulia, and the most irreverent bunch of punks in the whole Asia-Pacific, namely Punkasila and Slave Pianos.
Despite the title of the program, I tried to steer away from any kind of representation of “Indonesianess”. Krisna Murti makes an aesthetically mesmerizing observation on traditions slowly fading away. On the other hand, Tintin Wulia’s way of working goes beyond her nationality, in fact she works around the concept of nation and national boundaries itself. Punkasila and Slave Pianos, joining forces just like a crossover from some comic book, give space to their wildest fantasies, imagining an alien invasion starting from Java.
So, here a preview of what you will see this week if you happen to pass by the Art Project Space in Villa Ada.

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gamelan2

What the National Gallery of Victoria is trying to do with the Melbourne Now exhibition is to define the identity of Melbourne through its cultural practices, with a special focus on contemporary art.
I’m in Italy now, ironically writing my book about emerging artists in Melbourne, so I couldn’t visit the exhibition. Luckily my Australian friends and the artists that I have interviewed always keep me updated.
Some time ago I got a mail from artist Danius Kesminas, who told me about his new project with Slave Pianos for Melbourne Now, called Gamelan sisters (Sedulur gamelan). I posted some images, which gives you the feeling of this evocative machinery. On Slave Pianos’ website I find more information about it:

“Sedulur Gamelan (Gamelan Sisters) consists of two interlocking wooden structures that reconfigure elements of traditional Javanese architecture through the De Stijl philosophical principles of neoplasticism to create an abstraction of an 18th century double grand piano.

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Hyper-realistic paintings have never been one of my favourite, but actually, when it comes to Indonesian artist Dede Eri Supria, I’m getting more and more interested.
I was searching for information about the New Art Movement for my book on Contemporary Art in Indonesia and I ran into the video above.
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