A Women Artists Project of the Jakarta Arts Council:
WANI DITATA PROJECT

Artists: Aprilia Apsari, Julia Sarisetiati, Kartika Jahja, Keke Tumbuan, Marishka Soekarna, Otty Widasari, Tita Salina, Yaya Sung
Curator: Angga Wijaya

Exhibition: 4 – 19 October 2015, 11 am – 8 pm

Discussion on “The Image of Dharma Wanita in Social Context”
Tuesday, 6 October 2015 | 3 – 5 pm
Speakers: Julia Suryakusuma and Manneke Budiman
Moderator: Maulida Raviola

At Galeri Cipta II
Jl. Cikini Raya 73
Taman Ismail Marzuki
Menteng, Central Jakarta, 10330

Book

WANI DITATA: WOMEN CONSTRUCTION THROUGH STATE BUREAUCRACY

A5
244 pages
bilingual (Indonesian-English)
2015

Preface by Irawan Karseno and Hafiz Rancajale

Authors: Angga Wijaya, Julia Suryakusuma, Manneke Budiman, and Maulida Raviola
Editor: Deasy Elsara
Translator: Ninus D Andarnuswari and Gesyada Annisa Namora Siregar

Info & order: pelaksana.program.1@dkj.or.id

***
Women’s Art Project

In the last few years, the phrase ‘art project’ has been appearing in various art discussions and writings in Indonesia. Art as a project—referring to various possibilities of art development, both in collaboration and individually—has not been familiar in our art history. However, with the gift of hindsight, what the founding fathers of our modern art did actually led to the art project the way we interpret it nowadays. One simply can look at the project of Indonesian post-independence revolution poster, initiated by S. Sudjojono and Affandi together with Seniman Muda Indonesia, SIM (Indonesian Young Artists). S. Sudjojono laid down the foundation of art not just as an activity to investigate the aesthetic, but also as a means of struggle in collaboration with writers of the era, such as Chairil Anwar. Art as an art project hasn’t seen much development in Indonesia due to artists’ inclination of subjectivity and orientation to produce materiality, meaning work of art or object-based, as the end result. An art project in its process requires openness to develop what constitutes as ‘art’. This openness takes collaborative form of carrying out an activity that seems to have nothing to do with art.

In 2015, the Art Committee of the Jakarta Arts Council started a women artists’ project called Wani Ditata Project. This project is the Art Committee’s response to the Indonesian contemporary art development, taking into account the fact that art activities based on research and focusing on certain issues are becoming increasingly relevant today. The relevance of such project shows how art activity developed within a certain period of time and delving into a subject of discourse will have a significant impact on the contemporary art development—in the process production of knowledge also takes place that will be distributed by the end of the project.

Wani Ditata Project deliberately invites eight women artists of Jakarta and a young curator, Angga Wijaya, to facilitate this project’s development. The objective of inviting these women artists is to read the Jakarta contemporary art development in which they become the main players nowadays. Since its conception, the Art Committee of JAC has never particularly raised women issues in its programs. Thus the committee felt the need to specifically establish a women artists’ project while at the same time collecting the cultural, social and political discourses read through these artists. Hopefully this project will thrive and contribute to our contemporary art development.

Sincerely yours,
Hafiz Rancajale
Chairman of Art Committee
Jakarta Art Council
2013 – 2015

***

Download the festival newsletter here.

Project Manager: Ajeng Nurul Aini
Program Manager: Andike Widyaningrum
Writer: Angga Wijaya, Hafiz
Editor: Deasy Elsara
Translator: Ninus D. Andarnuswari
Designer & Layout: Rio Sadja
Media Relation: Dita Kurnia, Puri Dewayani
Production: Serrum
Documentation: M. Hasrul Indrabakti, Joel Thaher
Publisher: Rinam Antartika

Download the book here.