CP Open Biennale commences new art initiative

CP Open Biennale commences new art initiative

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

The CP Foundation through its chairperson Tjianan Djie and
curator Jim Supangkat announced on Jan. 15 its upcoming CP Open
Biennale in a press conference and discussion with Jakarta
artists at the National Gallery here. The team, including co-
curators Rizky A. Zaelani and Asmudjo J. Irianto, proceeded to
Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Bali and Bandung to inform the art
community and the general public about the event.

CP Foundation's initiative to provide as much information as
possible on their undertaking may be welcomed as a new way of
entertaining a dialog and consultation with a wide range of art
practitioners and the public, particularly as the idea of CP Open
Biennale is new both in the Indonesian as well as in the
international experience.

As the team of curators for this event explained, CP Open
Biennale is aimed at redefining the understanding of world art
through exploring and highlighting other or sub-forms of visual
arts. A combination of biennale in its usual understanding and an
art competition, also in its usual understanding, CP Open
Biennale is starting a new tradition of participation which now
starts by registration, and not by invitation. A major
consideration for selection will be the submitted work's
compliance with the theme of the Biennale.

It goes without saying the news came as a flash of lightning,
waking up everyone who has been slumbering or passing the days in
some sort of inertia. After the boom of goreng-menggoreng, and
the virtual demise of inspiring protest art, many artists have
been in a kind of limbo.

The idea for the Open Biennale of course did not come out of
the blue, but has been gestating ever since Jim Supangkat started
pondering the dominating hegemony in the world of art. It has
been a process with many actions and reactions, tested through
many efforts, and has now reached a point where the idea has
taken shape and the timing seems to be right.

Today a change is tangible all over the world, art
appreciation is shifting, new realities emerging, and the
question is now who will be determining the direction of art in
the global context. Will a limited group dominate the art
direction and others just go with the flow and take things for
granted, only to continue moaning that they have been
marginalized, or rather make a meaningful effort to join in
widening the scope?

It goes without saying that the team of curators who went on a
road show to inform the art public in several cities have met
with suspicion, a lot of questions and critical comments from
both artists and art critics. Suspicion is a vivid remainder of
past times, and it will take time to restore belief in honesty
and integrity. To its credit the team has responded with
openness, frankness, and apparent honesty, reintroducing a way of
unpretentious interacting. It is hoped that comments made and
inputs given may be valid in many ways, given the fact that
organizing this Open Biennale is a first experience.

Whether this innovative Open Biennale, scheduled to be held
every two years in Indonesia, will make a substantial impact may
take some time to determine. Yet the idea alone is an encouraging
sign and comes as a fresh revitalizing wind, sweeping artists
into a new habit of in-depth thinking, soul-searching, seeking
more information, and grouping into lively discussions.

Taking the format of a huge exhibition, CP Biennale will be
held from Sept. 4 until Oct. 4, 2003 at the National Gallery in
Jakarta. Participants shall be living artists and art
practitioners willing to question in their work whatever values
have been taken for granted, be it in the personal, public or
other spheres. The theme Interpellation should be understood in
this context. Participants will also include a selected number of
international artists. There is no age limit.

Works are invited in the form of paintings, sculptures,
drawings and graphics, installations, multimedia, photography and
three-dimensional works executed in material including ceramics,
metal, wood, glass, etc.

Entry forms are available at CP Foundation, Jl. Haji Agus Salim
65, 5th Floor Jakarta, or www.cp-foundation.org. Entry forms should
be received by March 24, 2003. For further information call 62-21
315 9222 ext. 135 or fax 62-21 391 9009, or biennale@cp-foundation.org