Jakarta, Indonesia
Art Jakarta
26th -28th August, 2022
From Earth To Earth (The Santiniketan & Indonesia Story)
The influence of Indian culture and religion is well-known in Indonesian art and culture, particularly in the pre-colonial era. But in the modern era, interactions between India and Indonesia continue to be meaningful because of the self-directed travels of artistic and cultural luminaries such as Rabindranath Tagore, Affandi and Rusli and the exposure to new sights, sounds and sensations that comes with travel and cultural immersion.
The 21st century Asian artworld is still largely a fragmented one. Rare are the intra-Asian connections that we can and seek to make with so much of our frames to understand, write about and promote artworks still aligned to the west as a result of 20th century legacies. This moment marks a centennial since the establishment of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s Visva-Bharati in Santiniketan.
This year also marks the 95th anniversary of his journey with compatriots to Southeast Asia in 1927 where he spent the greatest amount of time in Bali and Java. His visit created the first cultural bridge of the 20th century between India and Indonesia.
Therefore, Santiniketan – and more specifically the artists for whom the experience of Santiniketan has been formative in their careers – is an appropriate place to begin exploring. Dari Tanah Ke Tanah brings together the works of seven distinguished modernists – two Indonesians and five Indians – whose works illustrate various facades of the unique experiences that Santiniketan brought for them individually. It demonstrates – amongst other things – how the Bengal School of Art is not just about the world’s communion with India but how it forged a pan-Asian connection that is exemplary for us in the 21st century.
