Art markets, communities and cultures of the digital revolution in Indonesia

Abstract

This presentation will focus on digital art as a creative expression of major socio-cultural and technological developments in contemporary Indonesia. It is meant as an early inquiry into the much flagged idea of the digital revolution by putting both the digital and the revolution into critical perspective. I will discuss how the contemporary art market, as an essential part of Indonesia's creative economy, is slowly shifting interest from traditional media such as painting and sculpture to new media such as digital art. At the same time, some artists and art collectives have remained under the commercial radar due to the nature of their works, ideas and interests. Many of them engage in collaborative projects with local communities to creatively and critically address urgent social issues such as health care and food security. I want to argue that their ideas and practices are not a product of the digital only, but have been shaped by a long history of Indonesian cultural development.