Contemporary
worlds
Indonesia

From the modern colonial period to the present, Indonesian artists have challenged authority and questioned the status quo through their work. The politically motivated batiks of Mohamad Hadi and social realist paintings of Sindudarsono Sudjojono, Affandi, and Hendra Gunawan created during Indonesia's struggle for independence expressed the climate of social and political consciousness of the first half of the twentieth century in Indonesia. Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru (Indonesian New Art Movement), founded in 1974, promoted contemporary forms of art including installation, performance, photography, readymades and found as a way of emancipating Indonesian art from a moribund emphasis on painting and sculpture. In more recent times artists have employed zines, street art, social media and moving image to expand the platform through which they engage with new audiences and collaborate with communities to effect social change.

Tita Salina is one of the new generation of Indonesian artists whose practice explores environmental and social concerns through installation, performance, sound and moving image. In the series The Flame of the Pacific, initiated in 2010 with fellow artist Irwan Ahmett, Salina undertakes small acts of 'social disobedience', usually performances involving members of communities throughout the Pacific region who are facing disempowerment through government policies that impact on their environment, livelihoods and wellbeing. Through participatory performances Salina connects local communities and their problems to broader global issues,

'through combining existing social orders and structures from the smallest social scale to the broadest ideas of democracy, emancipation, collectivism and social movements … [the artists] work collaboratively and cross-disciplinarily, emphasising the force that is often forgotten: culture'.